‘S**t happens’: Why McLaren isn’t dwelling on its 2025 errors

McLaren has learned “valuable” lessons from mistakes made during the F1 2025 title fight, as it aims to defend its back-to-back Constructors’ Championships.

McLaren’s successful 2025 saw the Woking-based squad win its second consecutive Constructors’ Championship, as well as adding a Drivers’ Championship trophy courtesy of Lando Norris beating Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to the crown.

Zak Brown: S**t happens, and McLaren will learn from it

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While Norris secured the title courtesy of a third-place finish at the season finale in Abu Dhabi, it came under intense pressure as Max Verstappen hauled himself back into contention during the final third of the championship as he secured multiple victories and podiums.

Some of these results came about more easily due to McLaren errors, such as a double-disqualification for the Woking-based squad at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, and a strategic gaffe in Qatar that left both Norris and Oscar Piastri chasing down a massive lead the team had handed to the Dutch driver.

It was a season in which, had fortune smiled upon Verstappen just a little more, McLaren could have lost the Drivers’ Championship despite having the most consistently competitive car throughout the entire year.

These mistakes were acknowledged by McLaren CEO Zak Brown in an open letter published on the team’s website this week, in which he said his squad will have taken on board some “valuable” lessons.

“Red Bull and Max Verstappen pushed us all the way to the final round,” he said, paying tribute to the quality of competition the Milton Keynes-based squad threw against his in 2025.

“In the final year before a major rule reset, the competition was fiercer than ever, but we relished the fight.

“There were challenging moments along the way, and we definitely made some mistakes that played into the hands of our competitors – which are important to acknowledge – but these were dealt with swiftly and provided valuable lessons that made us better as a team.

“We are racers and have been in this sport long enough to understand that s*** happens, and it’s part of the game – what’s important is how we react in these situations to help drive us forward. When we make mistakes, we take responsibility. We address difficult situations directly, openly, and constructively, ensuring we move forward stronger and more aligned.

“The lessons we learned last year – and there were many – are a part of our constant evolution as a team and will undoubtedly make us better prepared. We’re a relatively young team, but we learn quickly, and we bounce back with vigour and purpose. Championships are won by how teams respond under pressure, and I am proud of how we handled those more challenging moments.”

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Zak Brown: ‘Champions’ label means little in a regulatory reset

McLaren’s success capped off the final year of the old regulation set, a ground-effect aerodynamics era that began at the start of 2022.

While Red Bull took a commanding position through the early years of the regulation set, as Verstappen won three consecutive titles to add to his initial title in ’21 under the previous regulations, McLaren’s steady rise to the front took a noticeable step forward in early 2024 as Norris took his maiden Grand Prix win in Miami.

While McLaren was one of several teams to switch focus to 2026 during the mid-season of ’25, potentially giving it an edge over teams that continued to update their cars until late in the year, Brown admitted that simply holding the crown as World Champions means little when it comes to the reality of performance once the new cars hit the track for pre-season testing in Barcelona in late January.

“The reigning Champions label counts for little when we are all faced with a regulatory reset,” he said.

“The new regulatory era in Formula 1 will bring new challenges as the competitive landscape evolves, but our aim is to build on the foundations that brought us success in 2024 and 2025 and maintain the high standards required to compete at the front.

“No one can possibly predict at this stage how the field will shape up in the opening races, but Andrea [Stella, team principal] and his leadership team have been quietly working hard in the background for a long time now to give us the strongest possible chance to get off to a strong start.”

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