Written by Paolo Alessi, Edited by Meghana Sree
Heading into the second half of the 2024 F1 season, McLaren finds itself 8 points behind Red Bull in the Constructors' Championship. Despite arguably having the best car on the grid since Miami, the Papaya team was only in third place until the Hungarian Grand Prix, having overtaken Ferrari during that weekend.
McLaren’s tough start to the season hurt their chances of leading the standings. By the end of the Chinese Grand Prix, they were third with 96 points, trailing Red Bull by 99 points, who were at the top of the standings with 195 points.
In the next nine races—starting with Miami, where McLaren introduced their upgraded package—the Woking-based team outscored Red Bull in seven of those weekends. The only exceptions were Miami and Spain, where McLaren might have had the edge if not for Piastri's collision with Sainz in the U.S. and his mistake in the final lap of Spanish Grand Prix qualifying.
At the same time, McLaren’s resurgence coincided with Sergio Perez's struggles. Over the last few races, the Mexican driver has managed to create a whopping 160-point gap between him and his teammate, Max Verstappen. Moreover, Perez is the only driver from the top four teams who has neither won a Grand Prix nor led a single lap this year.
Given Perez's poor form, McLaren should have capitalised and already taken the lead in the Constructors' standings, especially considering the strong performances of their drivers this year.
Over the past ten races, McLaren could have closed the gap to Red Bull, and if not for confusion of perspective within the team, they would have sealed a 1-2 finish at Monza and would be leading the Constructors’’ Championship.
Three races in particular stand out as blown chances: the Canadian, British, and Italian Grands Prix.
In Canada, McLaren did not pit Lando Norris when the safety car came out on lap 25, costing him a likely win and almost second place to George Russell.
At Silverstone, McLaren made two strategic errors that cost them a potential one-two finish. First, they did not double-stack on lap 34 like Mercedes, leaving Oscar Piastri out and out of contention for the win. Then, on lap 40, they put soft tires on Norris' car, which turned out to be slower than the medium tires Piastri used in the final stint. These two races alone cost McLaren 23 points.
Then at Monza, what should have been a comfortable win for the team was left open for Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to seize the opportunity and clinch a win on home soil. Piastri’s controversial Lap 1 lunge on Norris coupled with McLaren’s indecision throughout the race made this race the biggest missed opportunity of all for the Papaya team.
Both Piastri and Norris have driven exceptionally well this year, but they have also made mistakes that cost McLaren dozens of points. Norris has struggled with starts, failing to maintain the lead after starting on pole in China’s sprint, Spain and Hungary.
A poor start in Belgium also likely cost the team a double podium. Piastri’s biggest error was during Spanish Grand Prix qualifying, which put him in ninth and limited his recovery to seventh on a track that’s notoriously tough for overtaking—especially when McLaren had the best package.
Considering these episodes, McLaren could have gained at least 20 more points, putting them ahead of Red Bull in the championship.
These mistakes might be due to McLaren not having fought for a championship in over a decade. Had they executed more like a top team, they could very well be leading the Constructors’ Championship by now.
Looking ahead, with the second half of the season well underway, McLaren has a real chance to win the Constructors’ Championship. The MCL38 has performed well across a variety of tracks, and both drivers are in strong form. It remains to be seen if the same can be said of the Drivers’ Championship, but anything is possible in Formula 1.
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