Christian Horner strategically hands McLaren the favorite status, but the team hesitates to embrace it—fueling early psychological battles ahead of 2025.
At the start of the year, the national sport for every team principal is… refusing to embrace the favorite status! The goal is to ease pressure on their own team while shifting it onto others.
This is exactly what Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren Racing, has done. Even though McLaren F1 secured first place in last season’s constructors’ standings, the American insists that all top teams, including Mercedes, are just as much favorites as McLaren F1. And he particularly expects one driver to spring a surprise…
“I fully expect Lewis to be a title contender,” he began.
“I think we and Ferrari finished last year with nothing between us. I believe that will continue.”
“Mercedes was very close, and they still won four or five races.”
“So, I’m putting them in the mix as well. And of course, Red Bull—super strong in the first half of the season. A bit less so in the middle of the year, but they finished very strong.”
“I don’t think there will be any difference between these four teams.”
Zak Brown could have added that Mercedes F1 and Red Bull will have an advantage in the drivers’ title race: they have a clear team leader, unlike McLaren (with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri) and Ferrari (with Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton). But this advantage for Mercedes F1 and Red Bull turns into a disadvantage in the constructors’ title battle, he admits.
“And obviously, Kimi (Andrea Kimi Antonelli) being a rookie and Liam (Lawson) still relatively inexperienced will likely be an additional challenge for Mercedes F1 and Red Bull over a 24-race season from a constructors’ championship perspective, as those two drivers will inevitably have a few ‘rookie weekends.’”
“But I think they’re both extremely fast, and I imagine they will both win races.”
Lando Norris stated on Tuesday that McLaren had “no excuse” not to fight for the title in 2025. But is Zak Brown already looking for one? He denies it.
“That’s definitely the goal—we want to go after both the drivers’ and constructors’ titles, and why not be ambitious and aim for a double.”
But to win the drivers’ title, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri will need to avoid taking too many points from each other. Is Zak Brown prepared to issue team orders?
“We’ll let Lando and Oscar [Piastri] decide who is first and who is second. That’s our common goal. I think, as the drivers have said, this season is shaping up to be epic and even tighter than last year.”
“I expect to see eight different winners. Last year, we had seven, and four different teams won. With the current level of competition… every weekend, as the top four teams were performing, there was always someone capable of shaking up the order.”
“I think that will happen again. So, I wouldn’t be surprised if more than four teams won races. I believe we are in for an epic Formula 1 season.”
Brown highlighted McLaren’s innovative approach with the MCL39, which completed a shakedown last week, as proof that the team is not resting on its laurels in 2025.
“It’s been an enjoyable offseason, but a very busy one.”
“We took a little time to celebrate, but in racing teams, you celebrate on Sunday night, and by Monday, you’re pretty much back to work.”
“So, we definitely feel—positively—the pressure of being a world championship-winning team. We are taking nothing for granted.”
“We see that just a few tenths can make a huge difference. We’ve seen the pace we’ve found over the past 12 months, so we know others are certainly capable of doing the same.”
“So we’re focused, heads down, taking nothing for granted, working very hard, but also working really well together.”
“The atmosphere at the factory is pretty incredible. We’re pushing each other to the limit.”
“There are a lot of innovations on our F1 car, so we haven’t been idle. And we have nine other teams that haven’t been idle either.”
Christian Horner delighted to shed the favorite tag
Meanwhile, Christian Horner can finally be honest when he says Red Bull is not seen as the favorite: given the team’s second half of last season, that’s far from the case—and the Milton Keynes boss almost welcomes it.
“Sometimes, it’s nice not to be the favorite. It puts the pressure on others. I’d be very happy to see Lando arrive at the first race as the favorite,” he smiled.
“But that doesn’t mean much until we’ve actually raced that first Grand Prix,” the Red Bull team principal continued.
“And even then, Melbourne is quite a unique circuit. I think we need to wait until the first run of flyaway races is over to get a clearer picture of performance levels and tire degradation. We have new surfaces in China.”
That’s why Horner prefers not to draw any early conclusions about this season’s favorite.
“There are a lot of moving factors, and the season is very long. Let’s wait and see how it all plays out,” he concluded.
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Horner Shifts Pressure to McLaren in Pre-Season Battle Horner Shifts Pressure to McLaren in Pre-Season Battle Horner Shifts Pressure to McLaren in Pre-Season Battle
