Let not a bad plot spoil a good story. McLaren have been riding high since the start of the 2025 Formula One season winning five of the fist seven Grand Prix on offer. Much has been made of the team’s alleged flexible bodywork design, which would be illegal, but the story goes that any increased downforce from the wings ‘standing up’ in the corner would help with the tyre management which is crucial this year.
This tale will reach its conclusion next week in Barcelona, when the FIA will introduce new stringent tests for flexible body which the likes of Red Bull hope will bring McLaren back towards the chasing pack.
Meanwhile in Milton Keynes the narrative has changed since last time out in Imola. The story this season had been one of Max Verstappen hanging on in for the driver’s champion whilst driving a very tricky RB21 which was refusing to be tamed. Yet as if by magic in Italy, despite just missing out on his fourth pole position of the year, come race day Max made a daring move into turn one – which his team boss described as “win it or bon it.”
Red Bull close the gap in Imola
The rest of this particular tale didn’t go as expected, as Verstappen simply drove away from the chasing McLaren’s who were unable to match both his race pace and meagre tyre wear. Christian Horner confirmed this was progress for his Red Bull team and not the case that McLaren had dropped the ball.
“We managed to get some performance on the car,” confirmed the Red Bull boss. “I don’t think it was McLaren had really lost pace last weekend, it was more we’d found pace. That was really, really encouraging, not so much for here but for some of the tracks that are coming up.”
On the defensive after what looked like a comprehensive spanking in Imola, McLaren arrived in Monaco with a new plot line for the tale of their path to end of season glory. Much of the success they’ve achieved this season is not just due to alleged flexi-bodywork, clever water cooled rear brake ducts but in fact the way the power unit cooling system has been designed.
Team boss Andreas Stella was taking questions from assembled paddock media in Monaco when he revealed his team has found a more efficient way to keep its Mercedes’ power unit cool, which in turn allows them to close off more of the MCL39’s vents designed to allow incremental cooler air inside the bodywork.
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Stella claims engine cooling superior
Of course any kind of vent no matter how carefully it is designed disrupts the ideal air flow over the perfectly crafted bodywork. Using the vents less allows the car to operate more in line with how its aero was carefully designed. This could have created a significant advantage in Bahrain and Saudi this year where the temperatures in the middle east were searing this season.
“There’s nothing in the cooling system which is the same as last year,” said Stella. “It’s much more efficient. This allows us to run closed when the temperature rises, and we talk about a significant number of milliseconds that we gained compared to last year for a given temperature.”
What was intriguing about Stella’s explanation is that it appears McLaren have been simulating the ‘ideal’ temperature at which the engine should run. They then add into the formulation the factor of the hot air coming from following a car in front closely and this is the number which answers the number required by the universe.
“Obviously you always try to run as close as possible, but you need to make some allowances,” added Stella. “Some of these allowances you can’t even experiment in practice: like for instance what is the following effect? What is the following effect of one car? What is the following effect of a train of cars?
Clever McLaren cooling ‘zero effect’ in most venues
“So you try to judge this as well as possible in practice and you try to run as closed as possible. But sometimes you have to accept that if you have not done a good enough job in practice, you might have to sacrifice a few milliseconds to be safe, because otherwise you cannot follow other cars.”
With the exception of Lando Norris in Japan, who followed Max Verstappen for lap after lap hoping for an opening to take the lead of the Grand Prix, the McLaren duo have mostly been following each other up front. For this weekend in Monaco the expected temperatures are cool for this time of year in the French Riviera barely making 20 degrees celsius at the hottest point of the weekend.
So any cooling advantage McLaren believe they have will have minimal if not have a zero effect as the most important annual qualifying competition begins tomorrow. Yet the tale spun by Andreas Stella feels a little far fetched given that McLaren’s advantage at some race weekends has been over 30 seconds at the chequered flag.
Whilst superior engine cooling will play its part in certain extreme but rare conditions, the McLaren engineering genius has clearly delivered in other areas of car design. That said it appears Red Bull Racing have unlocked some of their cars potential after a dominant display from Max Verstappen last time out in Imola.
Norris needs a turn around
The tale of the tape between the McLaren team mates has reported firmly an ‘advantage Oscar Piastri.’ Despite being four year’s his senior at the McLaren team, Lando Norris – with the exception of the season opener in Melbourne – has failed to put it all together and now trails his team mate by four wins to one.
Ex-F1 racer and BBC commentator Joplin Palmer explained to the BBC: “When you look at Lando last year, he was absolutely thriving. But this year, he’s making mistakes in qualifying that are costing him that we haven’t seen, I have not seen in Lando’s career, to be honest.
“Obviously, Oscar is doing a tremendous job, and he looks absolutely hooked up. But then when you’re Lando, you have to deep dive that. You have to try and work it out.
“He’s struggling to get a feel for the front end of the car. A lot of the mistakes seem to be lock-ups in big braking zones. You’ve got to try and work it out.”
Norris has admitted he needs to change his driving style this year as the fundamentals of the car have changed over the winter. Yet time may be running out should Red Bull have found their silver bullet for the RB21, as they do year after year the team’s in season car development never fails to impress.
Horror crash with implications for Verstappen title
New tyre rule and new tyres make Monaco 2025 a mystery
As the memory of the most audacious move from Max Verstappen in Imola begins to fade, the sun is shining in the French Riviera as the Monaco Grand Prix is widely anticipated. The almost unbelievable overtake by Vertappen into turn one at the Emilia-Romagne Grand Prix surprised even the four times world champion himself.
When asked in Monaco had he watched back the start of the last race he replaced: “When I came home on Sunday, yes. But of course I already knew myself how it all felt, but it’s nice to look back and see how close it all was.”
Max had a poor start and even slipped into third place briefly, but so late was his braking that he clung on around the outside of pole sitter Oscar Piastri, and such was the ridiculous nature of the move along with making it stick, Verstappen admits in the moment he was forced to smile about…. READ MORE
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
