The Formula 1 World Championship battle is heating up as McLaren and Ferrari outline their technical development plans following the Austin Grand Prix. With only a handful of races remaining, both teams have made their strategies clear. McLaren must keep an eye on the threat posed by Max Verstappen—the “T-Rex” hunting down Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris. In Austin, the Dutchman claimed his third win in four races and now sits just forty points behind the championship leader. Meanwhile, Ferrari’s goal remains securing second place in the Constructors’ standings.
With only five races left in the championship, almost everything is still up for grabs. The only mathematical certainty comes from the Constructors’ standings: McLaren has repeated its success from last season, clinching the tenth title in its history. The gap to its rivals is now unbridgeable, underlining the dominance shown by the MCL39 during the first half of the season.
The Drivers’ Championship, on the other hand, remains wide open. Oscar Piastri continues to lead, but his advantage has shrunk to just fourteen points over Lando Norris and forty over Max Verstappen. The Dutch driver is currently the man in form, having cut his deficit to the top by half in just a few races. The upcoming round in Mexico could prove decisive for the title battle.
McLaren and Ferrari: their decision on further updates
Several teams have already decided to stop introducing technical upgrades and focus entirely on the next season. Among them are McLaren and Ferrari, both now fully focused on preparations for 2026. In Maranello, the targets remain unchanged: to fight for a race victory when possible and to secure second place in the Constructors’ Championship.
In a recent interview with Canal+, Ferrari team principal Frédéric Vasseur essentially confirmed that there will be no further developments on the SF-25. Andrea Stella, team principal of McLaren, expressed the same view: “We will not bring any more upgrades until the end of the season. Even in Austin, we had the pace to win the race, but we were penalized by not running in the Sprint Race,” he explained.
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