There are numerous reasons behind the astonishing 40-second gap between McLaren and Ferrari in the British Grand Prix, with the two teams separated by an impressive and unexpected performance from the Sauber team.
With a dominant and commanding performance, McLaren celebrated a home victory that had been absent since the year 2008. This particular win was anything but a foregone conclusion for the papaya team, especially considering the challenging track conditions and weather that were far from ideal for the McLaren MCL39 race car. A significant part of the record-breaking gap inflicted on Ferrari under these wet conditions can be attributed to the performance and characteristics of the car itself, but there was also a combination of skillful technical choices and clever tactical decisions at play. Amid the overcast and gray skies of Silverstone, the green Sauber car driven by Nico Hulkenberg also stood out remarkably, as the German driver was justly rewarded for the enormous development efforts that the Sauber team had invested throughout the season.
One of the most thrilling and entertaining races of the entire Formula 1 season took place in England, where the unpredictable and changeable weather conditions put the spotlight on the drivers’ sensitivity and adaptability, as well as on the tactical decisions made by the teams. However, once again McLaren and Ferrari were unfortunately on different planets, as during the heavy downpour at Silverstone, the superiority of the McLaren cars became especially evident. The papaya cars were partially helped by a clear track ahead, allowing them to dominate the race pace when compared to a Ferrari team that had been so impressive under dry conditions. The McLaren cars benefited from an aerodynamic setup featuring higher downforce levels compared to the Ferrari cars and especially the Red Bull Racing cars, but Andrea Stella, McLaren’s racing director, urged observers to look beyond just this factor.
The former Ferrari race engineer explained that he did not believe the rear wing configuration was necessarily the only reason for the better or worse performance seen in wet conditions. The Italian emphasized that it also depends significantly on how the drivers use their tires and manage the temperature of the tires throughout the stint. Christian Horner, the team principal of Red Bull, was the first to recognize this reality when he commented on the performance of Max Verstappen, who had been outperformed by the McLaren duo. Christian Horner remarked that as soon as the tires began to heat up on the drying track surface, the advantage of the McLaren cars on intermediate tires became very apparent—they were simply miles ahead of all the other competitors.
McLaren had already demonstrated at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne their excellent ability to contain tire degradation on intermediate tires. However, while the rear tires had been the limiting factor there, at Silverstone the McLaren MCL39 cars also managed the front tires exceptionally well. Therefore, this was not only a matter of the intrinsic quality of the car’s design but also of the precise execution by the team, which succeeded in identifying the optimal compromise for tire pressures. The choice of tire pressures directly influences the car’s ability to evacuate water from the tires and also affects the tendency of the tires to overheat. Frédéric Vasseur, the team principal of Ferrari, explained that in these challenging wet conditions, tire pressures are extremely important. The choice of pressures is based on projecting how many laps the team expects to complete on that particular set of tires. However, on this occasion, predicting this was more difficult than ever before. Consequently, McLaren’s technical team deserves commendation for their excellent management, having delivered a car that remained stable and well-balanced even in wet conditions, unlike Ferrari, whose cars have long carried a DNA that causes them to lose performance and “switch off” when faced with rainy weather.
The Woking-based McLaren Formula 1 team celebrated a commanding one-two finish at Silverstone, a result whose special significance goes far beyond the emotional impact of finally securing a home race win after an 18-year drought. In the 2023 British Grand Prix, McLaren had produced one of the best performances of their entire season, but at that time the fast corners of the Silverstone Circuit played strongly to the papaya car’s strengths. Many factors have changed since then, including technical decisions that sacrificed competitiveness in high-speed corners, freeing the car from the necessity of running extremely low and stiff setups to gain performance in slower corners and, above all, to improve overall versatility.
Now at the midpoint of the 2025 Formula 1 season, what continues to impress most about the McLaren MCL39 is its incisiveness and competitive edge across every possible condition, from the scorching and oppressive heat of the Austrian Grand Prix to the cold and damp climate of the United Kingdom. Ferrari team boss Frédéric Vasseur openly acknowledged that it is very difficult to have a car that remains consistent in such varying conditions, and this is precisely why McLaren has been so much faster than all of its rivals this year. The papaya team has claimed victory on a track that historically has not favored them, where low ambient temperatures, smooth track surface, fast corners, and heavy front tire wear combine to create one of the toughest challenges. Nonetheless, the McLaren team does not intend to rest on its laurels, with further technical updates in development. These include a new floor package that is expected to make its competitive debut at the Belgian Grand Prix, having already shown promising performance signs during Friday testing sessions at Silverstone.
The fight for the championship will therefore likely remain an internal battle within the McLaren team. Lando Norris celebrated his second consecutive race victory despite a somewhat inconsistent qualifying performance, yet he was faster than his teammate Oscar Piastri when comparing race pace. Lando Norris claimed victory by virtue of his ability to avoid mistakes on a challenging day when the rain caused errors for nearly all drivers, including multiple world champions. After frequent doubts about his psychological resilience, Lando Norris demonstrated remarkable mental strength while under the immense pressure of racing in front of his home crowd. He also showed a champion’s reaction following his crash in Canada just a few races prior.
After showing encouraging signs on Friday practice sessions, the Scuderia Ferrari team unfortunately faded away in the wet conditions. Tactical decisions played a crucial role in Ferrari’s failure to reach the podium, beginning with Charles Leclerc’s choice to switch to slick tires immediately before the race start, which turned out to be a misjudgment of how quickly the track was drying. Lewis Hamilton missed an opportunity for a final attack on Nico Hulkenberg due to errors committed during the out-lap after his last pit stop. According to Frédéric Vasseur, the switch to slick tires was made one lap too early, though this was somewhat mitigated by the additional difficulty Lewis Hamilton faced after losing his GPS signal for 11 laps.
Nevertheless, questions remain about Ferrari’s chronic struggles in rainy conditions, which reached their peak during the moments of greatest track wetness, when their lap times were over one second slower than those of the McLaren cars. Although Lewis Hamilton appeared puzzled by a car that continually seemed to catch him by surprise, he still showed greater incisiveness than Charles Leclerc, which may be attributed to a setup that, while increasingly similar to that of his teammate, still remains different in an effort to reduce the nervousness and instability of the SF-25 chassis. Lewis Hamilton explained that he prefers using a particular driving method more frequently, while Charles Leclerc runs with a setup that the British driver does not wish to emulate.
Ferrari has work to do in qualifying as well. Charles Leclerc has indicated that the cryptic problem he reported will not be solved quickly. Earlier speculation suggested the issue might be related to fuel pickup, but on Radio 1 the Monegasque driver later associated the problem with the steering system. Charles Leclerc also expressed determination to improve his single-lap qualifying performance, while Frédéric Vasseur put forward a theory on his decline: Frederic Vasseur stated that although Leclerc has improved his race pace, possibly due to setup changes, this has come at the cost of making qualifying more difficult. There is certainly no shortage of work ahead as the team prepares for the upcoming Belgian Grand Prix.
Another major protagonist of the day was the Sauber Formula 1 team, whose garage was filled with music and cheers to celebrate Nico Hulkenberg’s first career podium finish. The German driver delivered an almost flawless performance, making a strategic call to pit two laps earlier than everyone else to switch to a second set of intermediate tires. This strategy was coordinated by former Ferrari engineer Inaki Rueda and allowed Hulkenberg to maintain a very competitive race pace. There was no gamble involved with the Sauber’s setup, as Team Principal Jonathan Wheatley explained that the weekend had been prepared primarily with dry conditions in mind.
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