Revealed: How McLaren can win first F1 title in 16 years

McLaren may have lost the World title in Las Vegas but they can wrap up the Constructors’ in Qatar, their first championship in 16 years.

Last time out in Las Vegas, Lando Norris and McLaren faced the crushing disappointment as Max Verstappen secured his fourth World title by taking an unassailable 63-point lead in the Drivers’ standings.

McLaren, F1 2024’s Constructors’ Champions?

Additional reporting by Elizabeth Blackstock

It was a result that Norris admitted at the time “hurt”, but it’s one he and McLaren will need to push aside as they arrive at the Losail circuit as they’re not only in contention for the teams’ title, they’re leading the way.

McLaren hold a 24-point lead over Ferrari in the standings with Red Bull a further 29 off the pace. With a maximum of 103 points still in play, all three teams are in the running.

But it’s advantage McLaren, and they could wrap it up this weekend in Qatar, which is a Sprint weekend, with a total of 59 points up for grabs.

F1 2024: The Constructors’ Championship has yet to be decided

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👉The updated Drivers’ and Constructors’ standings after the Las Vegas GP

McLaren can win the title on Sunday if they outscore Ferrari by more than 21 points and at the same time don’t lose nine or more points to Red Bull.

Meanwhile Red Bull will fall out of the running if they don’t outscore McLaren by nine, leaving just Ferrari in the mix.

Should McLaren only outscore Ferrari by 20 points, they could head into the season-ending race with 44 points still up for grabs meaning they could end with a tie that would then be decided by most wins, most second places and so on.

McLaren team boss could’ve done with a ‘boring’ run-in

McLaren last won a title in 2008 with Lewis Hamilton clinching his first of seven Drivers’ titles while their last Constructors’ success was back in 1998.

Team principal Andrea Stella concedes while McLaren could have the advantage in Qatar after last year’s double podium, anything could happen given the calibre of McLaren’s rivals.

He told the media including PlanetF1.com in Las Vegas: “I’ve said myself that Qatar and Abu Dhabi should be territory that is more suitable for the way we have designed our car. But at the same time, I think we need to be careful that the level of the top teams in Formula One in 2024 in my view, even this one is unprecedented.

“I really can’t remember a season in Formula One where four teams were operating at such a high level, not only because they are in condition to win, but they are in condition to dominate, like Mercedes did here with faultless weekends.

“This means for the team, that, yes, we go to Qatar thinking that the car may perform well, but if we think that this is an easy ride, we will be hit by the reality. So we go there knowing that we need to maximise the potential of the car. If we do that, then certainly, from a track layout point of view, the car should spend quite a lot of time where it’s been designed to perform.

“But I can’t, to be honest, I can’t not recognise that I would expect Ferrari certainly, even Red Bull, Mercedes I think they will have got quite a lot of information from this weekend as well, to being conditioned to win in Qatar.

“So it’s a very interesting, much more than I would have liked, final part of the season. I always try to get things to be bored, boring, but that’s not the case.”

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