McLaren silences everything and everyone in F1. The British cars dominated on the track that reveals everything: the circuit that has historically validated the soundness of technical projects and, at the same time, exposed the flaws of cars plagued by endemic weaknesses. The superiority of the MCL39 is overwhelming, thanks to excellent performance regardless of tyre compound, weather conditions, or track layout.
The confirmation everyone feared
Its versatility makes it competitive essentially everywhere. The gaps inflicted on the competition must also be weighed properly. Oscar Piastri had no rival other than his teammate and, when the British driver tried to get close to car number 81, the Australian ace pulled away in classic fashion to make it clear there was no contest.
In hindsight, the one-two at Montmeló may be remembered as the end of the fight outside the papaya-colored camp. The single point collected by Max Verstappen on his day of ordinary madness in Spain leaves him light-years from the top of the Drivers’ Championship. As for the Constructors’ Championship, there has never been a contest, and there won’t be until the end of the season.
The paradox of the final year of regulatory continuity is that the long-awaited performance convergence has been wiped out. This was made possible by the evolution of the technical project of the historic British team. The two MCL39s represent an extreme evolution of the already excellent car from last season. A car that is far from reaching a development ceiling or physiological limits.
McLaren’s resurgence
The title contenders’ cars have high downforce, generating a lot of lateral grip in medium to high-speed corners. Both in qualifying and the race, the honesty of the British car was evident, especially in long sweeping bends. Thanks to a perfect aero-mechanical balance, the MCL39 was running on rails where other drivers were visibly struggling in corner entry, apex, and exit.
In practice, the team was never afraid of overheating the tyres, neither on Saturday nor over 300 kilometers with heavy fuel. Faced with such perfection, one can only praise the work done by Andrea Stella’s team. The manager from Orvieto, like all his men, wanted to show that their superiority would not be dented by technical directive TD018.
After all, the world champion team was the only one not to communicate any changes in the presentation car document, since the new front wing — compliant with the FIA’s updated requirements — had already been tested during the Imola weekend. They were ahead of the curve, fully aware of their technical supremacy. In short, confidence in their means.
Looking at how the team operated in Spain, we can speak of a form of revenge against those who, for months, pointed fingers at the supposed irregularity of the MCL39 related to front wing flexing. We’re talking about Red Bull. The ninth round of the championship reaffirmed the same values seen since Australia. Now a new phase of the season begins, perhaps less thrilling but more demanding in terms of driver management.
The only issue is managing the internal rivalry
The extent of the dominance is in the numbers. Zak Brown’s team has collected exactly 150 more points than at the same stage last season. A margin gained against rivals who, for various reasons, are unable to match their overwhelming power. Ferrari is grappling with a technically flawed project that forces compromises every race weekend. A real torment.
Red Bull is a team that has long raced with only one driver, and the Austrian car is by no means free of imperfections. Then there’s Mercedes, whose performance rollercoaster has been a constant in the ground-effect era. There are still fifteen races left on the calendar, including four sprint weekends, but which team will actually push development of this year’s car rather than the 2026 project?
Ferrari cannot afford to end 2025 with zero wins. That would be yet another failure after the bold statements made at the start of the season. At this point, the more intriguing matter concerns managing the driver pairing: the Piastri-Norris dynamic could become difficult to control. Both drivers show the hunger of those who know they’re seizing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
From 2026 onward, the balance of power between the cars could shift. In Spain, there was already some friction in qualifying, with Oscar trying not to give Lando Norris a tow. Another small episode, unnoticed by many, occurred during the Safety Car phase when McLaren did a double pit stop. Oscar Piastri waited a split second before allowing the team to position itself for his tyre change. We’re only just getting started…
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