McLaren’s ‘nightmare’ brings Max into the mix – 2025 Las Vegas GP Review with Lawrence Barretto

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0:55Welcome everyone to F1 Nation's review of the Las Vegas Grand Prix. I'm Tom Clarkson and joining me on the show is F1 correspondent and presenter, Lawrence Barreto. Now get this, we're sitting outside the McLaren Hospitality Unit in the Vegas paddock. The entire F1 press corps is surrounding us and the team is currently absorbing the news that both of its cars have been disqualified from the race. This is huge news for so many reasons. And Lawrence, why? Why has Lando Norris lost P2 and Oscar Piastri P4?

1:32Lawrence Barretto:Well Tom McLaren was summoned to the stewards just after the race because the rear skids of both Lando and Oscar's car were found to be below the minimum thickness level which is 9mm. Now there's precedent for this. I think earlier in the year Lewis Hamilton was disqualified in China. Nico Hülkenberg was disqualified in Bahrain. Now McLaren took a case to the FIA to try and appeal the penalty. They argued that there were mitigating circumstances that were additional and unexpected porpoising at the event. They said there was limited opportunity to test due to the weather on day one. Do you remember it was raining and we kind of had those really slippery conditions?

2:08Lawrence Barretto:And then we had the shortened practice sessions as well, which meant the teams couldn't do the long runs and therefore test the ride heights and see how low they'd want to run the cars. Now, the FIA responded and they said in a statement, unfortunately, there was no provision in the regulation or precedent for any penalty other than the usual penalty, i.e. disqualification. Among all of this, the FIA did say that they didn't feel that McLaren ever intentionally attempted to breach the regulations. But because there is no other president other than a disqualification, that's the only penalty that they could give.

2:38Lawrence Barretto:Now, McLaren added that there was the potential accidental damage that may have led to movement of the floor, which could have caused this additional wear. But the FRA threw that out and said there wasn't sufficient evidence to mitigate the penalty. And that means, ultimately, the penalty stands. Both McLarens have been disqualified from the Las Vegas Grand Prix. For the neutral, they must be loving this. For McLaren, Lawrence? It's a nightmare for McLaren because, obviously, Lando, he was 30 points clear at the chequered flag. Oscar was 30 points behind. Max was well away from the championship lead.

3:12Lawrence Barretto:And now we've got both drivers, both Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen, on 24 points adrift of Lando Norris within a race win with two races and a sprint to go. The question is why? And I guess it has been a very disrupted weekend here in Vegas, hasn't it? In terms of, you know, the practice sessions, there were red flags. And I think Lando said that prior to qualifying, he'd only done four. The longest stint he'd done in any practice session in the dry was four laps. OK, and then, of course, qualifying was wet. Bowled another googly at the teams as well. So it kind of was a big step into the unknown going into this race from a setup point of view, wasn't it?

3:52Lawrence Barretto:Absolutely. And let's just say that that is, of course, the same for all the teams. So it's not like any other team had any long run data. I think the difference here with McLaren is they've come here knowing they've never finished higher than six in quality, never finished higher than six in the race, and that they wanted to make a big step forward here. So I think when you're pushing the limits, maybe they just pushed it a little bit too far. And they would have learned that in practice had they had those long runs, but they didn't. And that is the nature of when you've got a championship coming down to the wire.

4:26Lawrence Barretto:Even though McLaren have been so dominant this year, it shows how hard these guys have to push the absolute limit to ensure that they can keep Max Verstappen and Red Bull behind. Do you know, in the post-race press conference, I did ask Lando, I said, look, do you dare to dream? You've got, you know, you've got surely one hand on this world championship trophy. And to be fair to him, he said, absolutely not. I'm not thinking like that. I'm going to go to Qatar purely with the view of trying to win that race, take it one step at a time. So I'm not sure it's going to change his attitude. Or do you think the pressure is higher now as we go into these last two race weekends?

5:03Lawrence Barretto:No, I think from a Lando perspective, I think the one thing that's really impressed me in these last few rounds is the way he's dealing with this pressure. And OK, his lead was 30 points. It's now 24 points. But the way he is performing, I think, and the way that he is handling that stress and that pressure will be enough to carry him into Qatar and put this behind him quite quickly. I think the Lando of maybe earlier in this year or years gone by might have maybe let it get to him and it might have affected him and not send him into a spiral, but maybe had a bad effect on that following weekend.

5:39Lawrence Barretto:Whereas now, I think the Lando that we've got now is mentally tough. And I think that is what will hopefully carry him into Qatar without it affecting him too much. What about for Piastri though? Let's just finish talking about McLaren. He's now level with Max Verstappen. Did you see progress from Piastri this weekend just in terms of his pace, in terms of his consistency? Yeah, absolutely. I think without that yellow flag in qualifying, he would have been much higher up the grid. You know, Leclerc obviously had that moment. He couldn't complete his lap, Oscar, that is. And I think he would have been much higher.

6:13Lawrence Barretto:And he built up through the weekend. And honestly, talking to him on camera and off camera, he was feeling much happier about things. He's not back to that peak Oscar nailing it, utter confidence in the car. But he felt like he was back in the fight and it wouldn't be just another case of damage limitation. I think there was real frustration in the race that obviously starting from P5, fell back, clawed those positions back. But I think that actually the way he handled this race showed that he has got the pace again. I think that he's found something in the car that gives him that confidence. And actually going into Qatar, on paper, yeah, OK, he's level with Max Verstappen.

6:52Lawrence Barretto:And that's never ideal when you've got a driver of that quality. But he's actually closer to Lando than he would have been without this disqualification, ironically. so actually on paper it isn't so bad for oscar heading to catar where he is brilliant he's never been beaten by lando he is the favorite i would have said this before this weekend in the sprint and in the race and so i think actually he's probably going to take a little bit of a boost from what's happened um this weekend they were the favorites going into catar last year and max and stole it let's talk about max now i mean how good was he in this race first of all he was brilliant i mean i think he took advantage at the start lando made a very well a move he described as shocking as he cut across max got ahead and then he commanded that race i think every time it felt like there was a threat from behind first from george and then from lando he was able to pull out a gap and pull out at will you know he would set a fastest lap so not just a gap and i think it was really interesting towards the end of that race he was still delivering fastest laps it was almost like he was trying to send them a sign you know lander was having an issue towards the end of the race he was falling back and it was clear that max wasn't going to be challenged but max was almost like and even though publicly he was saying even before what's happened but the disqualification oh look i'm not thinking about the championship i just want to win races the brilliance about max is he looks to get any kind of edge over any other driver or team that he can and i think even just the way he was smashing fastest laps after fastest laps in that race at a track where it wasn't immediately clear they were going to be the best because i you know many felt mercedes were going to be strong coming in here mclaren had shown they'd made a step here ferrari are normally good here for max to do the kind of job that he did in that race it was more than just about winning this race it was about stamping a massive authority on it just to keep the pressure on Lando and Oscar headed into these last races fastest lap of the race on the very last lap exactly on on tyres that had done half the race do you think he's still living rent free in Lando's head and I'm referring to the tussle going into turn one I think Lando was a couple of years ago was it the first year that Max did a really good move down the inside there.

9:12Lawrence Barretto:So I'm sure that would have been on Lando's mind. But I think actually the very fact that Lando was, he won't like this word, but it was, it was aggressive in the way that he kind of cut across the track shows that actually, I don't think he is living rent free anymore. I just think he was thinking, look, I'm going to try and own this. It didn't work out, admittedly, but at least Lando was trying to own it. And so I think for me, that means that maybe he's starting to get on top of it. I do think that Max still has the edge over him because we haven't seen for a while now Lando come out on top in a battle with Max.

9:46Lawrence Barretto:But I do think that that was actually an example of him really kind of showing Max that he won't be pushed around and he's going for this. And he wants this title and he's not going to let anyone try and take away from him. If Lando Norris goes on to win this world championship, I actually think the disqualification here sort of helps in a funny kind of way. Because now the tempo has shifted going into these last two races. Does it feel, I mean, just look, you and I talking about it, everything that's being written about the disqualification as well. The pressure has ramped up, right? We've got two weekends.

10:17In two weeks' time, Lawrence, you and I will be sat in Abu Dhabi discussing who is world champion, right? The pressure has ramped up. Max Verstappen is one of the best drivers we've ever seen in Formula 1. He's got his mojo. We were just watching him walking up and down after the press conference, chatting to the media. He's oozing confidence. He knows the rulebook inside out. He leaves no stone unturned. And I think you want to beat Max Verstappen on level terms, right, to prove you're the best. And I think Lando is almost having to do this now, which will give just that little bit more meaning, if that's the right word, to what he's going to hopefully, for him, go on and achieve.

10:56Lawrence Barretto:And I think that's a really good point because I think it will mean a lot to Lando to do that. I don't think he ever wants to be gifted anything. I don't think it's important to him to just win a World Championship at any cost. I think to be able to beat Max isn't just about what happens this year and whatever results is. It's the future because these two guys, and Oscar included, can be fighting for world championships for the next decade. So it's all about tone setting. And I think Lando really gets that. And it's not just about winning that championship in whatever way he can do. And so I think that's a really good point, John.

11:31And you know how you're saying Max wanted to send a message to McLaren by dominating this race. I got that vibe from Lando in qualifying, actually. I thought that final lap in Q3 was sublime until he made that mistake with a couple of corners to go. But, I mean, you know, that was as good a qualifying lap until that moment as I think we've ever seen from Lando.

11:52Lawrence Barretto:Actually, it reminded me of many laps we've seen Max deliver in those real, like, tight moments. I remember there was one in Singapore that was incredible. And I think Lando was, what, nearly a second up, I think, after two sectors. And, yeah, OK, he had the mistake. but it was a mistake that didn't cost him and that is what's changed with Lando is that I think he's made mistakes over the last couple of years in qualifying when he's under pressure and it's cost him several places and many he couldn't go and fight for the win yesterday he'd done such a good job at those first two sectors that actually it didn't matter what he did then and he still caught it and he didn't he didn't put it in the wall he didn't lose control and I think he's taken so much confidence from that I think Lando's taken so much confidence from this weekend as a whole He said from the very first lap he did in practice, he knew they were going to be better here.

12:39Lawrence Barretto:Whether or not that is completely true in reality, I don't know. But he said it publicly. He doesn't normally do that. And I think, so again, we're back to messages and tones and setting the tones and stuff. But I think the job that he's doing here, the advantage he's had over Oscar still at another very different track, I think was another tone setting, message setting thing from Lando. and I think he'll go away from this weekend thinking, I've just done the best job possible again on a circuit that McLaren haven't been strong at. So the disqualification aside, they didn't cheat, by the way. They didn't go out to try and get an advantage.

13:12Lawrence Barretto:This is just the nature of what happens when you don't get practice running. He'll just think, we've done a great job here and we've stepped it up and I've done the best job of the two McLaren drivers. I think he's going to take so much confidence in this, especially the way he's handled it with Max. And that quali in the rain, this racetrack in the rain, in the cold, it was Bambi on ice territory, and he was the guy in qualifying. I really don't think in all my time in Formula 1, I've seen a qualifying session as difficult as that. No one really made any massive mistakes, did they? It was just little wiggles, little driver elements of control, and they all mostly caught it.

13:53Lawrence Barretto:And I think that's what made it so special, that session. and that Lando came out on top in that, when often he doesn't, I think is significant. So let me reiterate what the new point situation is after these two McLaren disqualifications. Norris is still leading on 390 points with Piastri and Verstappen tied in P2 on 366. So that's 24 points behind Lando. There is, it's all to play for, Lawrence. Whose favourite? I mean, I think it has to be Lando still because he's got that 24-point margin. And he's got the form, I get it, but this is Max Verstappen that we're talking about. And for half this season, he shouldn't have been a contender.

14:37Lawrence Barretto:And we saw as soon as he got that red ball, you know, after Monza, he got that red ball in a state where he knew he could compete. The light came back in his eyes, that cheeky smirk came back, and suddenly we were seeing Max at the best we've ever seen him. And that is such a scary thing, heading into a title decide in two races when he's going up against two guys who have not fought title deciders at the death. And that must give him a slight advantage mentally. Yes, of course, Lando's got the points advantage, but Max, oh my word, he'll go to sleep so well tonight. Back to school starts now.

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16:11So if McLaren is the big story, there are, of course, lots of other things to talk about in this Grand Prix. we need to remind people and i mean let's start with mercedes right who uh at the checkered flag were um third and fifth but of course with the mclaren disqualifications have now got a double podium russell in second and nantinelli in third let's talk about both of those guys lawrence let's start with russell he was dealing with issues in the race wasn't he did you find out what they were

16:40Lawrence Barretto:yes it's the repeat of the steering issue that he had in qualifying um he tried to go into a little bit of detail just saying it it was unpredictable you know at some point it would just lock a little bit but he did say that he found a way to to drive around it and so fair play to him for doing that but obviously that cost him and then he went a little bit too hard on the tires the grain and face came through and he just obviously just fell back but on top of all of that the fact that he still delivered an incredible performance to get that podium shot the way he handled the start this was another vintage George Russell performance.

17:16Lawrence Barretto:Super impressed by him. And what about that man Antonelli? I mean, on the podium last time out in Brazil, I kind of feel, Lawrence, that when I now get it, I now get what Toto's been going on about for the last 12 months. I think so. And I think Toto will be delighted with the way that Kimi has come through, because I think there was that moment when Toto said he was underwhelming, you know, in Monza and it could have gone one of two ways. Kimi could have buckled under the pressure or he could go on the kind of rudder he has gone on to and Mercedes bet on that because they would have seen how he came through go-kart and I was talking to Gwen Legrou about you know his carded days actually this weekend and how he just he saw that Kimi was special and I think today was another example of just what makes Kimi a frighteningly good prospect not just for the next few years but for the next decade the way that he handled yesterday's bad day of qualifying having been so frighteningly fast in practice and then the way he cut through today he had that five second time penalty which often we can often hear drivers get so frustrated with on the radio none of that like he just had head down and he did the best with a fast car and okay of course he wasn't expecting a podium at the end of it you know after this double disqualification but to claw back to what was fifth at the flag after such a strong weekend in brazil shows that actually for me this was a better weekend for him better than brazil i think so because it's the way he's handled a difficult scenario i think the kimmy from early in this season after that difficult day in quality might have got a bit lost today might have pushed too hard maybe overdriven the car might have kissed the wall a couple times but there was none of that to date if you looked at the way Kimi drove today's race you would not have known he had a bad day yesterday you would have not known there was any frustration and I think that is what's so impressive about what he did today and he's a tire whisper isn't he I was I was expecting him to make another pit stop in that race and yet he nursed those tires and and you know beat Oscar Piastri he even surprised himself actually with that because he wasn't sure whether or not the tires were going to last but I think the very fact that he was able to do it in a way that no one else was you know the the way that he nursed out tyres, it's kind of Sergio Perez-esque, isn't it?

19:36Lawrence Barretto:The way that he's able to feel it. So yeah, fair play to him. I'd like to know what was said in this big meeting that he had back in Brackley after the Italian Grand Prix. So as you referenced Toto saying he was underwhelming in that race, they all went back to Brackley. And to quote Kimi, we had a big meeting. I want to know what was said in that meeting because I feel that had a huge influence in the Kimi that we're now seeing. I'd love to know specifically what was said, but what I do know is that it was a really tough meeting. They weren't placating him at all. They were just very brutal and honest about the errors that he was making, where he could be stronger, where he maybe needed to put more of his focus.

20:19Lawrence Barretto:And I think the thing that I've always been impressed with, with Kimi coming through the junior formulae, is that he doesn't need to be told twice. and I think what that meeting was was a crunch meeting where they just needed to say look Kimmy you're doing a great job we know you're good but this is where you need to improve and you need to go and do this that and the other and it's about the way he changes his approach to a race weekend the way that he doesn't get tired because earlier in the year he was doing quite a lot of promotional events he was also maybe getting a bit caught up in the moment you know especially in his two race home races in Italy and it was it was taking a lot of a toll on him and I think he realized that but he couldn't quite realize how to adjust to that so that's just one example of one thing that they could do and look Mercedes know him so well he knows Mercedes so well they are so good at working out an efficient checklist of things that you need to do and I think they think that Kimi was ready to handle that and I think what's really impressive is he hasn't made a single mistake since and i'm talking about in practice in qualifying in the race i'm not talking about like driver of course you can maybe lose the car because you're pushing too hard but he hasn't overdriven the car he hasn't done anything that he shouldn't have done and i think that's what mercedes were hoping he would do and that's what he's been able to achieve it smacks of that mind management that jackie stewart's always talked about it's as if that meeting after monza was the moment where he suddenly got it and was able to compartmentalize all the different aspects you need to be a top Formula One driver.

21:48Helped by Bono, of course, his race engineer. Now look, Mercedes are on a roll. They had a strong weekend last time out, another strong weekend here. It wasn't as strong in Vegas this year as it was last year, George Russell dominating from pole in 2024. Do you think they're feeling disappointed? Or actually, will they take the fact that this year's car is more consistent, and so they've had greater consistency over the year, but perhaps the peaks, like they had in Vegas last year, haven't been there.

22:19Lawrence Barretto:Yeah, so I asked that to George in the TV pen, and he said they'll take the consistent car because it's more points. And that is the stark reality, isn't it? Yeah, okay, they had the highs. Look, they've still had highs this year, but I think it's been much better for them and actually for Kimi as the year's gone on that they've had a more consistent car from one race to another, because not only has it allowed them to build a rhythm through the year, but I think it just gives the team a better understanding of what kind of package that they've got. They're not kind of shifting wildly from one side to the other.

22:50Lawrence Barretto:They're not making very dramatic changes with the setup. Do you remember sometimes last year with Lewis, they knew what they were doing. They'd go to the far end of the spectrum with the setup just to try and understand it. They haven't had to do that this year and that's allowed them to have a much more consistent weekend through from Friday into Sunday and that's what's basically earned them P2 and the constructors. Obviously, it's not done yet but they are tightening their grip on that as Red Bull and Ferrari are falling away. Well, I feel that's a segue into talking about Ferrari, talking about consistency and the lack of it at Ferrari.

23:23This has been another difficult weekend for the team. And, you know, coming into this race, a lot of people thought this would be their last opportunity to get a good result this year. Yet, even with the McLaren disqualifications, they're only fourth and eighth at the flag. This was tough.

23:40Lawrence Barretto:Lewis described Brazil as a nightmare. Today he described it to me as horrendous. What's John Elkin, the boss of Ferrari, going to make of that? Yeah, it's going to be difficult, isn't it, to swallow. Even more difficult to swallow for the boys and girls who work on the car day in, day out, to try and do the best. I think there's a couple of things here to deal with with Ferrari. I think there was their performance in the wet yesterday in Quali. I thought it was significant that Charles Leclerc pointed out specifically that he said since he's joined the team so that's back in 2019 the team have not understood how to make their car go fast you know whatever type of car they'd built that year they've never understood what it takes to get faster they've turned the car upside down he said they've had Lewis Hamilton join the team a wet weather master they've had Carlos Sainz before a wet weather master they've tried everything and they can't make this car go fast and he said that is top of his checklist now going forward is to try and understand why they can't do it because what it meant was today in dry conditions even though they were fast well at least with charles claire's car they couldn't fight for anything because they were too far back and i think it was just it's another example of why ferrari there's so much goodness there they just can't seem to piece it all together to make the most out of it and dealing with lewis specifically right this was the first time in his formula one career that he'd qualified last without an issue you know without a grid penalty or something like that this was a performance-based p20 he was so downbeat in the tv pen yesterday when i spoke to him and look he's had some really tough weekends this year but i think lewis is such a proud guy like he really takes racing seriously so it's hurtful it's almost embarrassing for him to finish that low when he is doing everything he can to do the best job possible but I think it shows just how difficult that car is to drive at the minute to get the very best out of it clearly Charles has a way with that machine but don't forget he's been there since 2019 he knows maybe a lot of the workarounds he you might have to do to get the pace out of the car lewis doesn't have any of those kind of cheat codes almost to try and get the best out of it and it's getting frustrating it's similar to when he was at mercedes and he was starting to realize that there was nothing he could really do with that car in you know the generation that he had developed so it was tough to see him there then we saw this early phase of the race where you know helped by the crashes at turn one he was able to make up a couple of paces i think he went up seven spots from where he started um off the grid that phase looked all right but then thereafter he just couldn't make any progress yeah okay there's a little bit of damage that he got when alex elbon clipped him and but it wasn't sick or it shouldn't have been significant enough to really hold him back in the way that charlotte claire was able to actually make progress wasn't he was able to pressurize oscar he was able to driving like an animal he said yeah exactly and i think that's what maybe might be more concerning for Lewis in reality is that Charles is able to get more out of a difficult car at the minute than Lewis was, which is strange because Lewis was on a really great run from Spa.

26:58Lawrence Barretto:It felt like he was turning a corner and this was a bit of a setback, I think, that qualifying performance for him. That qualifying was confusing because actually he was perfectly placed to get the track conditions when they were at their absolute best at the end of Q1. He crossed the line, I think, with two seconds to spare. And yet he backed off because he thought he hadn't made it. So either there's a miscommunication with Ricky, his race engineer, or I can't imagine what other excuse there might be. But to not know that you'd actually made it and could complete the lap seems extraordinary to me.

27:37Lawrence Barretto:And particularly frustrating because actually he was pretty strong in Friday practice. that's not the first time this year that we've seen a miscommunication like this but this is race 22 I'd forgive them at race one maybe yeah I mean you're right Tom like they've had a number of races to get together but I think Ferrari is a different beast and for a driver to come into that team and kind of build it around them in the way, you know, Fernando Alonso tried and Sebastian Vettel tried. It's difficult. And I still don't think we should overlook that. I appreciate it has been over 20 races. But if it doesn't gel, it doesn't gel.

28:22Lawrence Barretto:And sometimes you have to work harder to make it gel. And it just feels like that's where they're at at the minute. Ricky is a great race engineer. We know that. We've seen that from past. Lewis is a great driver. So it just might be at the minute something isn't quite clicking properly. Back to school starts now. Get long-lasting battery life on the Dell XPS laptop powered by Series 3 Intel Core so you can work from anywhere. Now starting at$699 with exclusive student pricing starting at$599. And it's lightweight, portable and packed with enough processing power to make multitasking a breeze.

29:04So say goodbye to distractions and hello to more free time because you've finished your work faster. Complete your setup with savings on select monitors and more must-have electronics and accessories. Limited time deals and free shipping on PCs and more await you at dell.com forward slash deals. That's dell.com slash deals.

29:37There's more to come from Vegas in a moment, but I just wanted to let you know about the other official F1 podcasts you can listen to this week. Sebastian Vettel is my guest on F1 Beyond the Grid. That's out on Wednesday, and you can watch our chat on the official F1 YouTube channel. And this week's F1 Explains is all about Ford's return to Formula 1 with Red Bull Racing in 2026. That's out on Friday. Just search for F1 Beyond the Grid and F1 Explains on your podcast app.

30:08Well, Lawrence, it's been brilliant. Brilliant to sort of break down this breaking news that we've had after the race, but also to talk about everything else that's going on. Can we end this the traditional way? All right. Driver of the day, give us a few others as well. Don't limit it to one, but I mean, who impressed you apart from the McLarens, the Ferraris and the Red Bulls? It's that easy.