McLaren driver pair and team bosses reflect on securing the F1 2025 title to make it two constructors’ championships on the bounce.
With six rounds still to go, McLaren has already secured the 2025 F1 constructors’ championship in Singapore with 650 points against its name so far against second best Mercedes with 325. This is the team’s 10 constructors’ championship win in a successful defence.
The last time they won back-to-back titles was in 1990 and 1991, which was part of a four-year streak from 1988. They are now second in the all-time teams’ list with 10 titles, overtaking Williams (9), with only Ferrari (16) ahead. They dominated the current season with 12 wins and 28 podiums in 18 races.
All eyes is now on the drivers’ title as Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris go head-to-head against each other and sit 22 points apart with six races and three sprints to go. Max Verstappen has an outside chance in third, sitting 63 points behind the points leader i.e Piastri.
Here’s what the two McLaren drivers and team bosses said –
Norris: “I mean, another one is just a great thing. Another Constructors’ feels the same as the first because to get the first was quite an achievement if you still look at where we were just three years ago. We’ve overtaken every team in terms of development. We’ve outdone them by a long way in terms of development. And in a time when it’s almost harder to do than ever — with more restrictions, less wind tunnel time, all of those different things, budget cap — that’s probably been more in our favour over the last five years compared to the budget that the other teams could run at.
“But, yeah, in a time when it should be more difficult than ever to dominate, that’s exactly what the team has done and given us, by a long way, the best car on the grid. That’s always a very nice thing to say. Every driver that gets to say that, it always puts a smile on your face. But we’ve also done very well as a team in terms of drivers, between Oscar and myself pushing each other and delivering every single weekend. You don’t see that in any other team. I think we’re also very proud of that as drivers.
“But for me, I’ve been with McLaren since I started. It was a very different time and place then to where we are now. So that journey makes it more special — to know the downs, because that’s a lot of what it was back then — to see the rise we’ve had, to see the teamwork, the changes, the atmosphere difference, and the leadership from Zak and Andrea especially, has turned things around and made us the best team in the world. That’s something not many people ever get to say.”
Piastri: “I am very proud of this team. We’ve won back-to-back Constructors’ Championships, something we are all so proud of. It’s been a really good season so far, and to win it this early in the year is a great achievement. A massive congrats to the whole team, and thank you for all of the hard work.”
Zak Brown: “Pretty awesome. Unbelievable team here, unbelievable team back at the factory. All the men and women have done such an awesome job. The leadership that Andrea has provided to this race team, the whole leadership team, our owners, our shareholders – it’s such a team effort. Pretty awesome to go back-to-back; it’s been a while since we’ve done it. They’ve driven brilliantly all season. You can’t win the Constructors’ without two awesome racing drivers. As you can see, we’re letting them race. That was a bit more of a nail-biter there, but they race hard, they race clean, they race to win. So, a lot of racing to go and hopefully some more victories for both of them.”
Andrea Stella: “For the second year in a row, McLaren are the Constructors’ Champions, an incredible feeling to end a very competitive weekend in Singapore! Last year, it went all the way to the final lap of the final race, so to be able to secure the title with six races to go in the 2025 season is an unbelievable effort from the entire team. In terms of the car itself, I’ve said several times that if anything the MCL39 can be summarized if we need to do it with one word as innovation, there was lots of innovation applied to what was last year’s car and this required quite a bit of bravery at some stage of the 2024 season to commit to the amount of changes that we have applied to go from the 2024 to the 2025 car and this involved suspension, cooling, a little bit of the aerodynamic philosophy, many areas if anything.
“I would say pretty much all the fundamental areas even the interaction of the car with the tyres which has been a topic for a few months at the start of the season. So in all those areas there’s been a lot of innovation and I talk about bravery because our engineering understanding our engineering execution has been challenged to the point of the leading edge of our knowledge. So, we were definitely exploring some new territory but we were you know confident in the capacity the capability and the expertise that we have available in the engineering department at McLaren and definitely a shout out to our engineering department that they’ve been able to take these challenges make them real create such a fast car.
“Thank you to everyone in the team, both trackside and in Woking, for their incredible effort. We can all be very proud of this achievement, the first back-to-back Constructors’ Championship for McLaren since 1991. Thank you to our PU supplier HPP, our valuable technical and commercial partners and of course, our loyal papaya fans. It’s great that our teamwork is rewarded like this, but we must enjoy the moment this evening and then turn our attention to preparing for a competitive challenge in the final six races of the season.”
Following the grand prix, McLaren celebrated the constructors’ win at MTC with all of its employees which included 28 from 1991 when the team won back-to-back titles for the last time. Norris and Piastri together with Stella and Brown paid their thanks to all for the hard work and dedication.
Brown: “It’s great to be able to come together and celebrate the success that we have achieved as a team. We can also take this moment to reflect on the papaya era of McLaren, which began in 2018 but truly came into full force in 2023. “To have been able to achieve one of the biggest turnarounds in Formula 1 history is something everyone can be proud of. Since the beginning of this era, we’ve celebrated 18 Pole positions, 19 victories, 67 podiums and nine 1-2 finishes, while also delivering back-toback Constructors’ Championships. “This success is down to the culture and unity that drives this team alongside the valued support of our incredible fans and partners. I’m looking forward to continuing this journey together.”
Stella: “It’s remarkable to be celebrating our second Constructors’ Championship in two years. To be able to secure the 2025 title with six races yet to go is unbelievable. This incredible result for the entire team is a special moment and one we can reflect on with immense pride and recognition as consecutive World Champions. Thank you to Lando and Oscar. And thank you to our families, our loved ones and friends who share with us the sacrifice and the intensity of competing in Formula 1. Thank you to our teammates at HPP, our technical and commercial partners, and our fantastic fans.
“We have achieved this success together and that will only breed hunger to continue this success going forward. We have six rounds remaining, however, we must remain focused and prepared as our biggest challenge is still to come with the change of regulations in 2026. This challenge will be like climbing Everest, and is one we will attack together. Every minute counts and as a team, we will make sure we continue to work hard to continue our journey as World Champions.”
Norris: “It’s an incredible feeling to have done it again. To be World Champions for the second year in a row is just as special as the first time. The team have given us an incredible, dominant car that’s been a joy to drive every weekend. Celebrating with everyone today at the MTC makes me smile and will be a moment I’ll remember forever.”
Piastri: “What we’ve been able to achieve over the last few seasons is impressive. We’ve come a long way and to be able to say that we’ve recorded one of the most dominant seasons in Formula 1 history is incredibly special, I’m grateful to be able to celebrate that with everyone at MTC. To fight consistently at the front of the Formula 1 grid is a real honour, and it’s only possible thanks to every single member of the team. We still have a quarter of the season to go which is a gentle reminder that there’s a lot of racing ahead. I’m looking forward to what’s to come and seeing what we can achieve in the final six rounds of the season.”
Here’s McLaren trio on Singapore GP