McLaren's Over-Managed 2025 Championship Battle Lacked Genuine Drama and Tension
By
Kathryn Xu
5d ago· 6 min readenOpinion
100/100
Golden Brown
Bagelometer↗
Slow-proofed and worth the wait. Worth its weight in flour.
Score100TypeopinionSentimentvery negative
Summary
The article criticizes the 2025 Formula 1 championship battle between McLaren drivers, arguing that McLaren's overly controlled, legalistic approach to managing their drivers resulted in a dull season with manufactured tension. The author contrasts this unfavorably with more organic rivalries, suggesting the team's micromanagement and strategic blunders made for poor entertainment, to the point of hyperbolically wishing for an asteroid strike.
Key quotes
· 4 pulledMcLaren came in fully prepared for its drivers to lead the championship battle.
This meant doing the equivalent of writing up a 100-page legal document to try to settle the championship with as little actual conflict as possible.
The year's paltry tension and intrigue were achieved by performing elementary arithmetic on points totals and McLaren making some of the worst gaffes you'll see a championship-caliber team make.
By the end of it, one was almost starting to prefer that an asteroid strike earth and put everyone out of their misery.
In 2025, McLaren came in fully prepared for its drivers to lead the championship battle. For McLaren, this meant doing the equivalent of writing up a 100-page legal document to try to settle the championship with as little actual conflict as possible. The
