#i know max is in for 2025 but in 2026 i hope he goes to aston. he deserves to be somewhere that appreciates him :)

[danielverstappen]

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[laura1633]

i saw somewhere information that in liam’s contract were line about driving minimum 5 races this season or liam would able talk free to other teams, and as we saw they don’t want lose liam

i think that what they did to daniel is unnecessary cruel and unfair. they took him after 2022 saying that “we would never treat him as mclaren” and yet somehow it’s even worse…

i still don’t understand why red bull allowed being manipulated by liberty media to choose leave checo. please don’t call me naive i know there were paid, but isn’t allowance they would have got for wcc bigger?

no hate towards checo, but he wasn’t doing even half as max in this fridge on chassis. they gave him so many chances to prove himself and i personally think that it’s great because we are people and people are making mistakes. but there were too many chances…

i feel sad right now, i was cheering for red bull long time and seeing how they managing all this things and loosing their glory is really hard

i hope max would think about his future in this team. we all see how loyal he is to red bull, but i can’t shake his feeling that they slowly would pull him down completely.

as i said on my personal page, i don’t believe in “max to mercedes” narrative because how things were managed in 2021 by both teams, but i hope he would find solution for himself and we would see him another few years!!

I read that about the 5 races for Liam and that could very well be the case but to me I still think they could have gotten around it. So for example if they didn't give him the 5 races this year then they would only lose the option they had on him and he would be free to talk to other teams but there was only 1 other seat available (at Sauber). So I think had they not exercised the option in his contract but had then said they could still offer him a 2025 deal he would have surely still taken it. That is what seems so odd to me, unless there were financial repercussions for not taking up the opinion? Everything seems to come down to money so this would make more sense.

And I agree that it was not a nice way to treat Daniel at all, especially after all the talk they did about how he was treated previously. Even if they were to let him go midseason (something I disagree with) they could have let him have a proper last race at COTA.

I think Max is actually quite an intelligent and mature person when it comes to his career so I do trust that he will do what is right for him. I also get the feeling that it might end up being better for him to leave as Red Bull seems to be all over the place and so many key people are leaving. I guess I am a Max fan and not a Red Bull fan so for me I just go wherever he goes.

I get what you mean about moving to Mercedes. I did not like the way they treated Max in 2021 as I do believe they played heavily into the narrative that Max was the 'dangerous' and 'aggressive' one and then there was the reaction after Silverstone. If Max goes there I would assume it was because they cleared the air and he is confident he could be happy and successful there. I suppose there is also the outside chance of teaming up with Newey and Honda at Aston as I know Honda have expressed interest in working with Max again in the future.

Sorry you are feeling sad right now, Red Bull's struggles seem to have come so quickly and suddenly that it is all a bit of a shock. I feel like Max will be okay in the end though, he has so much talent that he can probably walk into almost any team he wants come 2026.

[aoimeru14]

THANK YOU! It's always a pleasure to interact with ACTUAL fans!

Before starting with my (expected) long post here is a summary for everyone:

Silverstone... The trauma made me forget how mclaren clownery poisoned also their home race...

Everyday McLaren wakes up and demonstrates that a good car and good drivers are not enough if you are aiming at championships. They are still midfielders in their minds. Like, waiting for the rain in Brasil could have worked only if you aim to reach the point positions, not the podium. If you want the podium you have to be more insightful, like Redbull demonstrated by not making Max pit and making him wait for an obvious VSC.

(let's not talk about Ferrari's fiasco, we all know that strategy is not always their forte. Some times they have god tier strategies, like in Monza. Sometimes... Not)

(also, is the meme "Sbinnala" worldwide or just Italian? Every fan deserves to know it)

As you said "they became title contenders super fast" yes! and, unfortunately, couldn't live up with the new expectations of the fans... (And the new hate that came along with it)

If I have to be optimistic: Maybe they are just taking it easy, thinking of changing things slowly until 2025, praying that the MCL38 stays consistent also next year. Not rushing things now.

If I have to be pessimistic: they could have taken things easily and STILL could have made better calls, better managing for their drivers and PR. Like, sometimes their strategy is just nonexistent or really simplistic. Like "if it goes well then ok, if it doesn't well, nee, we are gonna have a to talk about it later".

They really rely too much on their drivers and too little on actual data (or just logical assumptions... Like, rain = car on wall = red flag = VSC = Free pitstop + reset all grid positions and distances)

I could have accepted it this spring (as they didn't expect to be a rocketship), but I genuinely hoped they did better after the summer break.

Completely agree for the behind the scene discourse. We don't know exactly what they agreed upon and what the drivers actually wanted. And I agree with your point on Lando wanting to beat Oscar fair and square. Both because he respects and wants to protect (in his own way)/ race Oscar, and, mostly, to silence his worst hater: himself.

(projecting, projecting.)

PR wise, McLaren should be addressing this situation clearly and admit some of their wrongdoings... Leaving Lando alone like that, after the race, is not what I expect from a team that has a page like this in its social media community code:

Like, Redbull did it for Max (and Perez) in 2022

https://apnews.com/article/sports-f8cb80408ef87da1d7d6f7cd9b03976c

For the "I really hope they learn from this disastrous year" paragraph, yes, I agree. They really need to learn. I don't know if you saw the transcript of the false start... But saying "likely an aborted start" when IT HAS BEEN COMFIRMED was embarrassing. Well, not "waiting for rain in 7 laps [so don't attack Leclerc]" level of embarrassing, but still a bit unfortunate/unprofessional.

(also Charles is making me laugh out loud)

I think that Courtenay will be a fine addiction to McLaren strategy in 2026. He will bring some of Redbull's insights and organized thinking/procedures. My hope is that we will see landoscar on the grid by that time. (Yes, I'm pessimistic by nature).

For the switch: Stella said to sky Italia that he would have preferred a larger gap (2/3 seconds) from Leclerc for switching mid race, but it then become apparent that it was impossible to create and so they opted for a switch at lap 24 (last lap). So, to me, they talked about a switch during the race after they created a gap from P3 and changed plans only when they understood that neither him or Oscar had sufficient pace for that. Lando just got the news on radio and was his genuine confusion.

For keeping him behind because he was a better defender... MMMH. Don't know.

No, I mean. He is better at defending than Oscar (and not because Oscar is not good, we saw him defending in Baku). But I don't agree with that strategy as it was obvious that Leclerc would have succumbed to Verstappen very soon.

Verstappen, clearly, is always looking for a DNF when it comes to Lando (he knows he wins easy the WDC if they both DNF or just Lando does, like in Austria) while he would never risk a DNF with Oscar. (He sees him as useless, WDC wise). And we saw that Verstappen was more "gentle" (by his standards) with Oscar when he attacked after the VSC...

Speaking about Oscar and Max "overtaking"... Why no one is speaking about Max saying "Leclerc was the only decent enough" when speaking of his climb up from p17?

While it being true, as no one, apart from Charles, really battled him, i still think "why didn't they told Oscar to keep him behind? Or just making him attack his tyres in order to prevent him not pitstopping or climbing up?". So many questions I don't have answer for... We saw Oscar's skills, he could have tired him if just they let him to. (That "just Leclerc was decent [battle]" was MHHHHH like no, it's just that no one told their drivers to attack you... Just leclerc did, for the WCC)

(that said, Max did a masterclass, yes. Especially consistently setting fast laps since lap 33. With the advantage of clean air, yes, but with changing weather conditions and without burning the engine. But we have to be realistic and admit that luck, good strategies from Redbull, bad strategies from Ferrari/McLaren, were involved too.)

(and it's normal)

Even if it was bittersweet we still got this, so, at least, the drivers are on the same page:

Happy to have found a fellow yapper, maybe we should create a tag for our yapping session and use it... Or something like that! I really like to read your opinions as they are healthy and well spoken.

Also, this post is getting really long!

My take on a certain part of the McLaren fandom:

Every tag I open I see parasocial behavior.

Let's just touch grass and stop it. It prevents people from enjoying the sport without cringing (and, moreover, be happy for a team's success).

Why do I have to mute stupid tags (anti...) and block people in order to appreciate F1 in peace? Why do people do not understand that this is an highly mechanical/engineering sport and not only a driving sport? Why do you not understand that drivers are humans too?

But mostly, why does it seem so difficult to root for an entire TEAM?

Like, can't we JUST collectively appreciate everything that happened today? Just for once.

Like:

1. Oscar's sprint pole was a significant milestone for him and his career. (And i would love to see him win the sprint). Although he's still a rookie, he's developing into a really good driver (just needs one or two more years to settle down). Also, he has been maturing a lot since the start of the season and you can see that in the way he speaks about the whole "papaya rules" situation (still hate it, no team orders please... Just tell him to not crash both cars.) now compared to before the summer break. (please Oscar, do not let Mark Webber's delusions get into your brain. Thanks.) Also, nice helmet. Love it.

2. Lando finally looks serene and at ease without succumbing to anxiety for other's expectations. (He also seems to not be willing to give a f*ck about WDC, good for him). I'm also really happy that he's back to eating/drinking before races and can finally enjoy driving again. (Noticed him eating an energy bar before the race in Mexico)

I also noticed that he, just like Oscar, matured A LOT this year, especially after the summer break. (Speaking of the elephant in the room: Despite the team's apparent indifference, I still think that WDC can be achieved if he chooses to. Even if they're not interested in helping him due to different priorities or contract clauses)

And no, he is definitely a First Driver. If you think otherwise you are just living in a delusion, sorry. Telemetry, just like Math, is not an opinion.

Like, look at the last qualy time he did (and aborted) before pitting.

(the green lap records are the last sectors performances set by the driver. Look at them. Just look.)

And yes, if he gets the points he deserves a WDC, if he wants to. He IS a really good driver.

Mentality is a concept as old (and toxic) as Helmut Marko. Please, don't be like him.

3. We are finally seeing what the upgrades were for... Especially after whatever Austin was. (And yes guys, BOTH of the drivers have had the upgrades since Austin. Oscar just got 6 upgrades out of 7 at that time... Not none. Sorry to burst your bubble.)

And no, the upgrades DIDN'T actually upgraded the car's overall performances in Austin, you can clearly see that from the data. They purposely sacrificed it for the next races. See this:

https://f1i.com/news/521800-mclaren-explains-decision-to-delay-updated-floor-in-austin.html

Also they took risks with the floor too in Mexico. And no, they didn't give it to Norris because they hate Piastri. They give it to him mainly because he is more experienced and can provide useful data during practice while Oscar still needs to improve this skill.

4. Also, the team has done a great job in finding a way to change the banned rear wing without compromising performance and exceeding the spending cap. Love it. (also they made a new beam wing configuration specifically for Interlagos and it, apparently, works really well!)

I'm still not convinced that we currently have the best car on the grid (Ferrari looks really solid anywhere) but it's already better than the rocky start we got in US.

Not gonna lie, the moment they sprayed the WHOLE side of the car with the flow-vis in Austin i was like "goddammit, no improvements"... So I'm relieved that it wasn't the case (better sacrifice a race than discard the upgrades package entirely like Ferrari did in Silverstone).

WCC wise, I just hope that today they don't do something silly risking two MCL38 in a multi21. (And that we get some good strategies... Hopefully... Ok, I think I need to start pray some ancient god for that.)

And what If they multi21? Well, it would be really entertaining, but I don't think Lando wants to risk points/DNF for that. It's just not his style. (Mentality again? Go to bed grandpa... And take your medicines)

Let's be healthy fans, guys. Not parasocial delulus. We can rant about McLaren shenanigans TOGETHER.

Like, YES, i'm still convinced that the strategy team/management team is doing a real poor job this year. Both in managing the races and managing the drivers. (Including Bortoleto's contract clauses...)

And last (and least?), I loved the Google chromed livery aesthetically... HATED it aerodynamically. You won't be missed. Sorry Google, I had to say it.

Thank you for reading my rant. Love y'all (even if you don't agree with me)!