McLaren’s F1 dominance won’t go unchallenged in remaining 2025 races

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella believes Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull – at least in Max Verstappen’s case – will challenge for wins across the remainder of the 2025 Formula 1 season.

The Woking-based squad is the runaway leader in both F1 world championships, with 11 wins from the opening 14 rounds which includes seven 1-2s, but its dominance has been under threat – albeit sporadic – across the season.

Most recently Verstappen beat both McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris to the sprint race win during the Belgian GP weekend, while in Hungary Charles Leclerc captured pole position for Ferrari.

Stella feels Ferrari in particular stands out as a threat for the rest of the season given its recent breakthrough with upgrades.

“Ferrari has been competitive over the last few races,” Stella said after the Hungarian GP. “They were competitive in dry in Silverstone, they were competitive in Belgium. Somehow, this wasn't expressed fully.

“I think we saw yesterday [Hungarian GP qualifying] that they were in condition to score the pole position, and in the race, it's not like in the first stint we were holding back. We were trying to go as fast as possible, and Leclerc was managing the lead of the race with some degree of control.

“So, I'm not surprised. I think Ferrari is going to be a contender for victories for the remainder of the season.

“Anytime we go racing for the second part of the season, we will have to take into account that in qualifying and in the race, we will have to deal with Ferrari, we will have to deal with Mercedes, and today Max was a bit out of contention, but Max, I'm sure, will find a way to fight for victories.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Dimitar Dilkoff / AFP via Getty Images

“There's nothing obvious in this business. This is exactly what we said yesterday in our briefing after qualifying, and this is what we will keep repeating ourselves in the second part of the season.”

While Stella’s opposite number at Ferrari Fred Vasseur hopes that prediction is true, he counters that McLaren is able to consistently fight at the front in all circumstances while his team still needs preferable conditions and circuit characteristics to raise a serious challenge.

“It's mega difficult to predict because I think the picture of one day is not necessarily true the next weekend,” Vasseur explained. “But at least I would say that the last two [rounds], we are back on the pace, in Spa [and] in this one [Hungary]. We are back on the pace.

“We are quite consistent on the tyres. We are able to manage the pace. And if we are back in qualifying, it means that we will fight with them.

“I think that the advantage that they have today is that they are always there. It doesn't matter. In quali we were a bit faster, but it was marginal. They are able to perform in every single condition, while we are a bit more inconsistent during the weekend.

“If you want to win, we need to be very consistent in every single condition. From the free practice to have a good preparation for the race. In Q1, Q2, Q3. With all the sets [of tyres] in the race, with the different compounds and so on. I think it's where today they are a bit more performant than us.”

Additional reporting by Filip Cleeren and Roberto Chinchero