McLaren, Constructors’ champion and with the internal team red hot

The Woking team reached ten crowns in Singapore to be the second most winners in history, but the celebration was overshadowed by a battle between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri that finally broke out.

With six dates in advance, three of which will be a sprint race, McLaren sealed the Constructors’ title. This is how overwhelming the Woking team’s performance was in 2025 to reach its tenth team crown and remain Ferrari’s only escort in the historical category (those from Maranello have 16).

The McLaren staff, with Zak Brown (the CEO) and Andrea Stella (the director) went up to the podium to celebrate the achievement. Pure champagne and confetti, but something very marked in the atmosphere: internal rebellion. The naïve atmosphere that they wanted to show from the top in the middle of the battle for the crown between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris was known, for some time, that it would be broken. The papaya rules with which they tried to handle each situation were going to break down at some point. Especially on the Australian side, because he saw that most of the time they pleased the Englishman, the runner who was anointed as a starter from the Woking youth team.

The problem occurred at the start. Piastri did not move well from the third box and Norris, who started fifth, got inside in a very tight maneuver and there was a strong touch between the two MCL39. The Australian, World Cup leader, almost ended up against the wall. And the radio messages began. Piastri complained bitterly about the situation, waiting for the owners of the papaya regulation to ask for his position to be returned. It is worth remembering that in Monza they ordered Piastri to give way to Norris because the Englishman got a tire stuck during the pit stop. Unusual.

Piastri did not hide his discomfort with the team’s decisions in the Singapore race. The sports stewards evaluated the maneuver with Norris and decided that it was not a sanction. “We consider the same thing,” they told the Australian on the radio. “It’s not fair,” he replied. On lap 44, when asked by the race engineer, the one from Melbourne was definitive: “Do what you think is best. I don’t know.”

A no small fact: in McLaren’s celebrations on the podium for the Constructors’ title, someone was missing: yes, Piastri. The Australian was giving notes in the press corral. “Obviously it was a tough race and a tough first lap, but I haven’t seen the replay… so I’ll go take a look. It’s a great night for the whole team, but it’s not the race I expected. “Tonight is the result of a lot of hard work, not just this year, but many years, so it is a very proud moment for me to be a part of it,” he said.

When asked if there was a change in McLaren’s internal rules, he said: “I don’t know, I didn’t see the maneuver. I need to review it first before making any comments. Was it fair play? Yes, I think so, I don’t think there was any intention of contact, but there was and I need to watch the replay and see exactly what happened.”

Stella, with title celebration bubbles on her clothing, spoke about Piastri’s cutting comments on the radio: “First of all, we have to put everything in perspective: these are comments from a driver in an F1 car, the heat of the moment, the information, it’s just his point of view on Lando’s progress towards him. As always, we will have good conversations, we will go from there and we will come out stronger. This has been the process to build together a strong team, of which the drivers are a fundamental piece.”

“We’ll look at it in more depth on Monday, but it’s clearly a tough race,” was all Brown would say. Regarding the maneuver of controversy, Norris explained: “It was slippery and also wet in a lot of places, but it’s a race and I put it on the inside, I had a small correction, but nothing more than that.”

After the Dutch GP, round 15, Piastri led with a 34-point advantage over Norris. After the Singapore GP, round 18, the gap was reduced to 22. It cannot be ignored that in Baku the Australian hurt himself by ending up against the wall in the first corner. But McLaren has the coop in trouble. Nothing will cover or overshadow his enormous Constructors’ title, the second in a row. But the papaya rules are falling short and, in case something was missing, Max Verstappen continues to get closer. It will arrive in the United States at 63 Piastri. Three races ago I was at 104…