The 2025 United States Grand Prix delivered a brutal blow to McLaren’s championship hopes, with Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris grappling with the aftermath of a disastrous Sprint race and a cautious setup strategy that cost them critical pace. Max Verstappen’s relentless Red Bull RB21 swept both the Sprint and main race at Circuit of the Americas, pocketing a maximum 33 points and slashing Piastri’s championship lead to just 40 points. McLaren’s double DNF in Saturday’s Sprint—triggered by a Lap 1 pileup—forced the team into a conservative approach for Sunday, fearing disqualification over excessive plank wear, according to Sky Sports F1 pundit Ted Kravitz. The result? A compromised P2 for Norris and a lackluster P5 for Piastri, leaving McLaren licking wounds as Red Bull and Ferrari capitalized.
The chaos erupted at Turn 1 of the Sprint race on October 18, when Piastri’s aggressive inside move from third place clashed with Nico Hulkenberg’s Sauber, sparking a multi-car melee that took out both McLarens. Norris, starting second, was an innocent victim as Piastri’s car, launched airborne by Hulkenberg’s hit, smashed into his teammate, shredding tires and suspensions. Verstappen cruised to an unchallenged Sprint win, while McLaren’s zero-point haul left them blind on critical setup data. “It all started there,” Kravitz explained on Ted’s Notebook post-race. “The Sprint DNF meant McLaren had no clue how their car would behave on ride height or tire wear, forcing them into a defensive game plan for Sunday.”
The absence of Sprint data was catastrophic for McLaren’s MCL39 setup, particularly regarding the car’s underfloor plank—a wooden strip designed to prevent teams from running cars too low for excessive downforce. Per FIA rules, excessive plank wear, as seen in Lewis Hamilton’s Chinese GP disqualification in March 2025, can lead to race bans. With no Sprint feedback, McLaren opted for a conservative ride height to avoid scrubbing the plank, sacrificing aerodynamic performance. “They had to raise the car, giving themselves margin,” Kravitz noted. “That bled performance—Red Bull, Ferrari, and Mercedes nailed their setups, running low for maximum downforce without crossing the legality line. McLaren couldn’t take the risk.”
Sunday’s Grand Prix exposed the cost of that caution. Verstappen dominated from pole, winning by 11 seconds, while Norris fought valiantly for P2, fending off Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Piastri, however, struggled with an ill-handling car, finishing a distant fifth—his worst result since Imola. “The car never felt right,” Piastri admitted over radio, a sentiment echoed by team principal Andrea Stella, who called the weekend “a reset moment.” The conservative setup dulled McLaren’s edge, with tire degradation data also a mystery due to the Sprint absence. “Problem two: they didn’t know how the tires would hold up,” Kravitz added, pointing to Red Bull’s superior tire management as a key factor in Verstappen’s rout.
McLaren’s woes didn’t end with pace. The Sprint crash, deemed “ill-judged” by Kravitz, reignited tensions between Piastri and Norris after their Singapore clash two weeks prior. While no penalties were issued internally, Stella confirmed post-race reviews to address “teammate dynamics.” Fan reaction on X was fierce, with #McLarenMess trending at 60,000 posts, split between blaming Piastri’s aggression and lamenting the team’s strategic misstep. Red Bull’s Christian Horner seized the moment, quipping: “McLaren’s implosion is our gain—Max is back in the hunt.” With Piastri leading Norris by 14 points and Verstappen by 40, the championship is tighter than ever.
As McLaren heads to the Mexico GP, the US GP’s ripple effects loom large. Zak Brown, fresh off securing Piastri’s contract through 2028, remains defiant: “We’ll regroup and fight back.” But with Verstappen’s Red Bull firing on all cylinders and Ferrari lurking, McLaren’s cautious Sunday may prove a defining stumble in the 2025 title race. In F1’s unforgiving arena, one lap’s chaos can rewrite a season—and Austin’s scars may linger.
