Fun only reserved for the McLarens this year in F1? Drivers weigh in!

08:21, 16 Aug
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Over the past year, McLaren became the clear favourites for victories in F1. Does this take the fun away? Drivers shared their verdict!

The Woking-based team managed to win the constructors' championship ahead of Ferrari in 2024 at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and is now the runaway favourites in that regard.

So far, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris have won all but three Grands Prix (Max Verstappen won in Suzuka and Imola, while George Russell crossed the finish line in P1 in Canada), and they lead ahead Ferrari by 299 points.

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Is the fun reserved for the McLaren drivers?

"For sure, it's going to be more exciting for the McLaren drivers than the rest of us," Lance Stroll whether the rest of the season could be interesting for him.

He continued: "But every race you never know what's going to happen. We're all in our own different battles. Some of us are trying to pick up a point or two and that's a victory for us as a team. McLaren are fighting to win the race every weekend. We're all fighting our own battles. I'm enjoying every weekend as they come and you never know what's going to happen. The future, next year, like I said earlier, is a big opportunity for all the teams. That's exciting to see how it's going to fall into place."

Charles Leclerc was on the same page as the Aston Martin driver. "I agree. It's maybe a bit extreme to say that only the McLaren drivers will be having fun. We are all fighting for something. It would be very optimistic for me to say that I'm fighting for the World Championship. That’s not realistic anymore."

"However, we are fighting for coming back to winning races. For that, I'm very excited and I just hope it will be as soon as possible. I'm still fully motivated and excited whenever there's a race," the Ferrari driver explained.

Liam Lawson also pointed out how close the midfield battle is. "These guys said it well. With how close the midfield is right now, it's definitely exciting from our perspective depending on how the weekends are going. We're all on our own path and in our own fights. We're all focused on those individual things at the moment," he concluded.