Motor racing-McLaren's 2025 title looks very different to last year's

* McLaren secure their 10th constructors' title * Won with six rounds to spare * Second in a row for Woking-based team * Now ahead of Williams on all-time list, second only to Ferrari By Alan Baldwin Oct 5 (Reuters) – McLaren's 10th Formula One constructors' title, secured under the Singapore floodlights on Sunday with a record-equalling six rounds to spare, looked very different to last year's triumph even if success tasted as sweet as ever. The 2024 title was a breakthrough, the team back on top for the first time since 1998 after a battle with Ferrari down to the wire in Abu Dhabi, and then partying with the delighted owners in Bahrain. In the end only 14 points separated the top two and there was every expectation Ferrari would be back with a real challenge in 2025. That did not happen. McLaren have enjoyed a dominant season, even if their supremacy has tailed off more recently with development focused on 2026, with their title defence boosted by 12 wins in the first 15 races and seven one-two finishes. It was the first time McLaren had defended a constructors' title since 1991. A FOREGONE CONCLUSION FROM EARLY ON "Last year, the championship came as a surprise, much earlier than expected in terms of the trajectory of the team," commented principal Andrea Stella of champions who have climbed back from ninth place in 2017. "Only in Miami (round six in May) we could take the first victory… and at the end, it was a great surprise and a great joy. "This year, we realized relatively soon that the car was very competitive, that we were in condition to win races. So it was more about keeping the concentration, keeping the focus, maximising the potential available." Going into Singapore McLaren were 333 points clear of closest rivals Mercedes, needing only 13 points to win a title that has looked a foregone conclusion from very early on. "Their car is definitely capable of winning every race, and their car should win every race," Mercedes' George Russell had declared back in March with the season barely started. The crown could have been secured in Azerbaijan with seven rounds to go, one earlier than Red Bull's dominant 2023 season in which they won 21 times in 22 races, but Oscar Piastri crashed and Lando Norris finished seventh. That rare setback merely delayed the inevitable, and Sunday's floodlit race around Marina Bay ended the last shred of a doubt with Norris finishing third and Piastri fourth. Unlike last year, when Red Bull's Max Verstappen won a fourth drivers' title in a row, McLaren now look set to go on and win both crowns for the first time since 1998 when Mika Hakkinen was champion. They last won a drivers' title with Lewis Hamilton in 2008, but Ferrari — who now have the Briton racing for them — took the constructors' crown then. "You obviously need the best car. I think we've had that for 95% of the races," said Norris before the Singapore action started. "I think there are plenty of other teams with two great drivers, but I kind of hate saying it, not ones who have delivered every weekend as often as Oscar and myself have done. "It's also easier for us to deliver because we're ahead of the field a lot of the time. So in some ways, we have an easier job than some others. "But as a constructor, you need two drivers who deliver every weekend, who finish most races. And that's what we've been able to do." McLaren hit the ground running with their 2025 car looking even quicker than last year's, Norris chalking up the team's 200th F1 win in Hungary in August. Stability has helped too, with Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari all having to adjust to changed lineups — and a new boss at Verstappen's team — while McLaren stayed the same. Had Piastri not run wide in the opening race in Melbourne, won by Norris after a one-two in qualifying, McLaren might have wrapped up the title already. As it is, they move clear of Williams as the second most successful constructor of all time — behind only Ferrari with their 16 team titles — and still the team to beat as the sport enters a new engine era in 2026. (Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Christian Radnedge)

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