A return to success
It was 1998 when David Coulthard, alongside Mika Hakkinen—who would become world champion that season—contributed to McLaren’s Constructors’ Championship victory. Since then, the Woking-based team failed to achieve further titles for 26 years, until the decisive performances of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris in 2024, the latter also battling Max Verstappen for the Drivers’ Championship.
Another championship in the 2025 Formula 1 season?
McLaren has ended Red Bull’s streak of consecutive wins that began in 2021. According to the former Scottish driver, all the conditions are in place for McLaren to top the standings again at the end of the next season: “What I think made it all so special is that they are ahead of schedule,” the 53-year-old explained to Channel 4. “They didn’t start the year thinking they’d be in contention to win. They’ve been investing in this rebuilding program for several years, and then, not even halfway through the season, they arrived! They raced a few events, suddenly found their pace, their updates worked, and the drivers worked well together. This momentum carried them to this championship. Now everything is set to approach 2025 as favorites with winning drivers.”
The rebuilding
David Coulthard, who raced for McLaren from 1997 to 2004, also highlighted another key aspect of the team’s growing competitiveness: “It’s the people and the legacy of success McLaren had in the ’90s, ’80s, and beyond—they needed to rebuild. They needed to build trust and the team,” he added. “They had to invest in the right people under the leadership of Zak Brown, who is an absolute driver, isn’t he? Andrea Stella also succeeded with Ferrari. He put together a team of engineers, two young drivers who have blossomed, and the rest is history.” – the former Formula 1 driver concluded.
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