F1 mailbag: How will McLaren manage two drivers vying for the same crown?

New York Times

06-08-2025

What time is it? Summer time.
Formula One is heading into summer break. After completing 14 grands prix and three sprint races in 142 days, the paddock is pressing pause and relaxing over the next three race-free weekends. Two of these upcoming weeks are the mandatory shutdown: from Monday, Aug. 11 for 14 days, no F1 activities are allowed. Factories will shut down, wind tunnels will be out of action, design and production work will pause.
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F1 ended the main portion of the 2025 season with a thrilling Hungarian Grand Prix, where Lando Norris held off Oscar Piastri to score his fifth win of the season. The victory came after the Briton pulled off a Hail Mary one-stop strategy, while most of the grid, including Piastri, chose to use two pit stops. A thrilling battle unfolded in the closing laps, including an attempted dive bomb from Piastri.
Nine points now separate the McLaren teammates at the top of the championship, with Piastri holding the lead, and the next closest challenger is Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who is 88 points behind Norris.
As the paddock heads into the well-deserved recharge period, we've answered a few of your questions about the Hungarian GP.
Editor's note: Questions have been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.
With Lando Norris closing the gap to Oscar Piastri, how do you see McLaren managing the dynamic between team orders and title ambitions from here? — Oscar B.
Piastri provided one of the most insightful radio messages of the season in Hungary. As his race engineer, Tom Stallard, discussed strategies before his driver's second stop, specifically related to then race leader Charles Leclerc and the one-stopping Norris, Piastri responded by saying his priority was beating Norris, not the Ferrari.
Piastri's mind is focused only on his title fight against Norris. Thin margins are going to settle this, with Norris's run of three wins in the four races before the summer break providing a significant shift in momentum.
While we were waiting for the post-race media briefing from McLaren team principal Andrea Stella on Sunday, McLaren Racing CEO, Zak Brown, walked into the hospitality unit and declared, 'Well, that wasn't boring! We let them race, in case you didn't notice!'
I'm sure there were a few flares of tension on the McLaren pit wall as Piastri bore down on Norris, and especially when he locked up at Turn 1 on the penultimate lap. But those moments simply highlight McLaren's policy of having no 'number one' driver and letting its drivers race, trusting they won't put the team result at risk.
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Can that be sustained through the fierceness of a title fight, particularly after the constructors' title is secured? I pointed out to Brown on Sunday morning that sort of season-long cordial balance has never really been done before in F1 history.
Brown thinks it is possible, and that while close moments are inevitable, they will never get dirty. He puts this down to the strength of McLaren's team culture and the character of the individual drivers. 'The relationship today is the best it's ever been,' he said of Piastri and Norris.
Brown also spoke about how McLaren will manage the inevitable awkwardness at season's end when it (barring a surge in form from anyone else) has one world champion, and a crestfallen and frustrated runner-up. Such is the 'McLaren way' of going racing and communicating. Brown said they would tackle this by actively talking to Norris and Piastri about how they want to handle that scenario.
McLaren's approach is admirable and risky, but it's also refreshing to have such a close and respectful fight between teammates for the title. — Luke Smith
Leclerc said he had a chassis problem in the final stint. Was this from damage, setup, or something else? — Dan C.
When Leclerc and team principal Fred Vasseur spoke with the media on Sunday, it seemed Ferrari was unsure what caused the issue. Vasseur described it as 'quite strange,' noting how the second stint was a bit difficult compared to the first stint that was 'very in control,' but 'was still manageable.' Leclerc said that at around Lap 40 and the start of his third stint on the two-stop strategy, he began feeling an issue. And it progressively got worse. He added, 'Towards the end, we were two seconds off the pace. And the car was just undriveable.'
Leclerc was adamant, though, that this was 'an outlier' and 'shouldn't ever happen again.' The team will be investigating what happened, but the issue was significant enough that Vasseur thought at one point that Leclerc wouldn't finish the grand prix. One of the obvious big questions is whether the team saw anything on the data during the race, and Leclerc doesn't think so.
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'It was quite tricky. Otherwise, I probably would have known, and (the team) would have told me. It wasn't obvious on (the) data.'
Initially, when Leclerc began feeling the issues with his car, he 'didn't really know where that came from.' He continued, 'I thought it was from a change we did on the front wing at the pit stop, being too aggressive.'
He expressed his frustration over the radio during the final stint, as he thought the issues were tied to such setup tweaks that are common at most pit stops. But he retracted all that during his post-race media sessions, saying, 'I thought that it was coming from one thing, but then I got a lot more detail since I got out of the car. It was actually an issue coming from the chassis and nothing that we could have done differently.' — Madeline Coleman
Looked like Verstappen forced Lewis Hamilton off the track. It's bizarre that stewards would push that analysis off for post-race evaluation. Is that unusual? — Anonymous U
Why has Verstappen avoided any sanction for his move on Hamilton? The rules seem to be clear that Lewis should have gotten the place back …. — Richard M.
Considering the incident happened relatively early in the race, on Lap 29 of 70, it was a little odd that the stewards decided to investigate it after the action had concluded. Lewis Hamilton and Verstappen were battling for P11 at the time, as the latter battled through traffic after his early pit stop. The move in question came at the high-speed Turn 4 left.
Verstappen explained to the stewards that he was gaining momentum as the two competitors exited Turn 3, and the Red Bull driver was on much fresher tires after pitting on Lap 17. He went down the inside at Turn 4, and Hamilton left the track. He went off into the run-off area before rejoining the track. From a glance, it looked as if Verstappen may have forced Hamilton off the track — emphasis on may.
But these types of incidents usually receive decisions quite quickly during a race, so waiting to speak with the drivers and team representatives and review additional evidence highlights how this wasn't clear-cut.
So what happened at the exit of Turn 4? According to the stewards, Verstappen said during the post-race hearing that he was in 'full control' and 'could have stayed further to the inside to leave space for Car 44 (Hamilton) on the exit. As Car 44 had gone off track, he elected to use all of the track on the exit.'
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But Hamilton did not attend the hearing, waiving his right. And a Ferrari team representative confirmed there wasn't contact, adding that the seven-time world champion 'chose not to attempt to remain on track,' per the stewards' document relating to the matter.
So, to answer your question on why Verstappen wasn't penalized — 'Taking all this into account, the stewards determine that there was no contact and that the incident does not qualify as forcing another car off track despite the ambitious nature of the overtaking attempt and take no further action.' — Madeline Coleman
Verstappen v Hamilton all over again 🍿
Max gets by this time, after the rivals made contact at last year's Hungarian Grand Prix ⚔️#F1 #HungarianGP pic.twitter.com/0pou80YodU
— Formula 1 (@F1) August 4, 2025
When will George Russell sign his next contract? — Rachel K.
George Russell's future with Mercedes has been one of the central storylines to this year's driver market 'silly season,' inextricably linked to the next steps for Verstappen and his conversations with Mercedes' team principal, Toto Wolff.
Russell has maintained through recent months that he's relaxed about his future, given how he is delivering on the race track. Wolff has also been clear that his priority was to continue with Russell and rookie teammate Kimi Antonelli next year. The talks with Verstappen were always designed to get an understanding of the lay of the land while looking into the longer-term future; a smart move by any team boss.
Talks have been moving along between Russell and Mercedes, and a multi-year contract is on the table for the Briton. This recognizes his good form in both 2024 and so far in 2025. As is typically the case, the finer details can take a bit of back and forth, but it is just a matter of time to get things sewn up.
Russell said on Thursday in Hungary, he planned to 'get through this weekend, go on holiday next week and enjoy the break,' indicating there was no need to rush any attempts to nail down terms or make an announcement.
Wolff has long mentioned the summer as being a sensible time to tie things up, wishing to take his time. History also points to us getting no formal announcement or confirmation until we're back from the summer break.
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After all, September's Italian Grand Prix was where Mercedes announced Antonelli last year, and also where it confirmed new contracts for Russell and Hamilton (the latter ended early due to a one-year break clause) back in 2023. It is this deal for Russell that is coming to an end in 2025. Mercedes also waited until after the summer break in 2021 to confirm Russell would be replacing Valtteri Bottas for the following season.
There has been little rush from Russell or Mercedes in these talks, despite all the noise and intrigue from the outside regarding Verstappen. They may be close to getting everything across the line, but don't expect that to result in a sudden acceleration toward an announcement. — Luke Smith