McLaren or the Art of Winning Without Internal Conflict

McLaren is experiencing a sweet moment in sports. For the first time since the glorious era of Prost and Senna, the Woking team has secured two consecutive world constructors' championships. The recovery work by the technicians since early 2024, when they were the last team—or second to last at best—is worthy of all praise and acclaim, as the recovery has placed them at the top. Only a competitive beast like few others in history, Max Verstappen, can challenge their dominance race after race. If the greatness of success is measured by the adversaries to beat, it is beyond doubt that what McLaren has achieved is one of the great milestones in Formula 1 history.

Therefore, seeing the forced smiles in the Singapore paddock surprises those less familiar with the history of the team founded over half a century ago by Bruce McLaren. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri left another demonstration on the streets of Marina Bay that they do not have the cordial relationship they would have liked. Every weekend lately, there is some friction, touch, louder declaration, or a defiant look. What happened this Sunday after the race is a prime example.

While George Russell celebrated his second victory of the season, indisputable, alongside Max Verstappen, Lando Norris struggled to smile. It could be due to the fatigue accumulated from the race, as Singapore is more challenging than other circuits, or because he knew he hadn't acted well. McLaren's jewel is not being the leader everyone expected, nor the heir to the increasingly twilight Lewis Hamilton in the very British hearts of the no less British Formula 1. His desperation is evident every weekend when Oscar Piastri stabs him with a gained position in qualifying or the race.

This very Sunday, Norris was very close to causing a double retirement for the McLaren team when he collided with his teammate at the first corner of the circuit. The coin landed heads up, as the hit Norris gave Piastri could have easily ended with the latter in the wall and the former with a broken suspension in 9 out of 10 attempts. From that first lap, Piastri's expression soured, and his anger was such that he even asked his engineers not to bother him.

But if that clash is nothing more than a race incident and falls within the seams of the drivers' freedom to fight each other—something that often goes quite wrong, especially at McLaren—what was seen after the race makes it clear that the atmosphere in Woking is anything but comfortable. Social media has made the detail viral: while Carlos Sainz speaks to the media, behind him appears an expressionless Oscar Piastri, reminiscent of a 'Playmobil' figure, watching the screen behind. The scene on that television was of his own team with champagne bottles in hand on the podium celebrating the constructors' title. He, the leader of the drivers' championship and responsible for contributing more than half of the 650 points with which McLaren secured the trophy—336 points, exactly 51.46%—watched on a television as the rest of the team celebrated. It is, by all accounts, an abnormal situation at the very least.

This situation has been experienced at McLaren several times. The relationship between their two drivers, especially when they are potential winners, ends up being clouded by their inability to choose between one and the other. McLaren's endemic irresponsibility and cowardice as a team have left historic rivalries that have given wings to their rivals, see the case of the 80s with Lauda and Rosberg and then Lauda and Prost, Prost with Senna, years later with Alonso and Hamilton, and now this. Without Piastri or Norris being on par with any of the aforementioned, circumstances have placed them at the gates of Olympus. But they have Max Verstappen, who, for now, in the last three races, has been gaining time on them. McLaren needs to start choosing who their winning horse is because both won't be.

The difference between Piastri—a driver who left Alpine to join McLaren, including cross-judicial complaints—and Norris—a driver who has earned the nickname 'Blando' in the Spanish-speaking world for his inability to present a physical battle on the track—is 22 points, with six races to go. Behind, 41 points away, is Verstappen. The Dutchman has it tough, but by no means impossible. Having already won the constructors' title, McLaren should leave behind equanimity and bet on one of their drivers... or the monster coming from behind might catch them.