McLaren's Double-Edged Gamble: Can 2025 End Like the 2007 Nightmare?

Two-Driver Strategy in the Spotlight

Amid the race for the 2025 Formula One world title, Australian Oscar Piastri and British Lando Norris face a high-stakes test as McLaren declines to name an outright lead driver, with Max Verstappen menace looming in the mirrors.

Will the season end like 2007, when internal conflict and strategic gambles helped redefine the championship? McLaren, involved in both eras, insists it has learned its lessons even as it sticks to a two-driver challenge.

Back then, internal tensions between Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso allowed Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) to snatch the title at the final race in Brazil. The season also saw Ron Dennis back Hamilton, while Alonso found himself sidelined, contributing to a spying saga that leaked confidential Ferrari data to the rival team.

In a calmer frame, CEO Zak Brown and team principal Andrea Stella strive to avoid repeating two decades of history, yet they maintain the dual-driver approach.

"Heavy consequences" is the mood around the team. Brown warned in Austin that not naming a lead driver could carry serious risks and perhaps replay old dramas, but this is how McLaren wants to compete: two drivers capable of winning the title, acknowledging the potential downsides.

Mid-season, when McLaren seemed to dominate, Piastri and Norris led Verstappen by 104 and 70 points, making the Dutch driver believe he had no chance at a fifth consecutive championship.

With five races remaining, the Australian led Norris by 14 points, while Verstappen crawled back, 40 points behind the leader. Stella tempered expectations, saying the 2007/2010 dynamics showed that a late-season surge could redefine the title, and that the team would act only when the numbers dictate it.

As Verstappen reasserts himself as a serious contender, he has closed in on McLaren’s cars, already securing five wins in the nine Mexican GP weekends to date, with the Mexican Grand Prix going to race on Sunday.

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Across the standpoints, McLaren’s two-driver approach continues to generate debate, even as Verstappen pressures from behind. The team’s internal dynamics and race-by-race decisions are under the microscope, with every move scrutinized as the Mexican GP approaches.

In a hard-edged sequence, incidents between Piastri and Norris have occurred over the season. Canada saw Norris collide with Piastri on the final laps; in Singapore, contact forced a stop; and in the United States, a collision with Nico Hulkenberg’s Sauber left both McLaren cars out of the sprint. Some race-day instructions, though unintentional, have seemingly favored Norris, prompting Piastri to voice concerns about potential favoritism while trying to keep the debate civilised.

In Monza, officials asked Piastri to let Norris pass after a costly stop, a decision that drew surprise when Norris later held his position in Singapore despite the earlier pass. Norris benefited from the outcome, narrowing the championship gap, while Piastri remained within reach. As Mexico looms, every move by Norris and Piastri, and every strategic call from Stella and Brown, will be under intense scrutiny—and Verstappen’s charge adds a dangerous tailwind for the two McLarens.

Punchlines aside, if McLaren’s aim is to win as a duo, it might be the bravest double act since dancing with a thunderstorm. But remember: in a world where two drivers can steal the spotlight, sometimes the pit stop is the real show—and the clock is the judge.

Punchline 2: If two drivers really were a single victory, McLaren would have built a championship on a pair of punchlines, not a lap time. Either way, the drama stays on the grid and off the coffee machine.