Max brings the drivers back to the center of F1, McLaren does it with the independents

The Imola weekend launched two messages destined to spread throughout the path that Formula 1 will face starting next weekend. The first, very strong, is related to the figure of the pilot, who returned to center stage last weekend. In reality it has never moved, but to make the added value of those who sit (lying down) between the steering wheel and the tank clear and understandable, a specific scenario is needed. Among those who observe Formula 1 from the outside there are those who support (or suffer) many clichés, fueling discussions based on extreme situations that are proposed as unassailable dogmas.

“Nowadays only the car counts” is one of the most popular topics, and so on to examples such as the Mercedes era with the hybrid super power-unit, or the previous Red Bull with blowing exhausts. It was right at the height of the Vettel era that Fernando Alonso threw out a phrase destined to be remembered: “I fight against Newey”, a not-so-subtle way aimed at reducing Vettel’s role in Red Bull’s global binge. It was like this even in the first hybrid years, Mercedes’ engine advantage was unquestionably the most significant variable in the world championships of the Hamilton-Rosberg tandem. But it is not always like this, the scenario changes from year to year, and in an unexpected way, the current season is holding some surprises.

Verstappen’s 2023 ride was very hastily archived under the heading of “technical dominance”, underestimating Max’s added value. Yet, last year out of 22 GPs (19 victories for Verstappen) the Red Bull doubles were ‘only’ six, with Max capable of doubling Sergio Perez in terms of points: a huge difference. It took Imola to make visible to everyone what had been ignored more or less consciously: in the successes achieved by Red Bull in the last four seasons, the contribution guaranteed by Verstappen has been fundamental. At times his talent was less influential for the stage result, but overall he proved to be an indispensable element.

The first to understand this were (years ago) the Red Bull men, and this also explains the treatment (financial and status) that the team guaranteed to Max, something that had never happened previously in the history of the team. Today, even the competition knows Verstappen’s value very well. Toto Wolff’s morbid interest in Max can be explained by his desire to take away an important value from the team and add it to his own project. “The stakes are high – confessed an insider – if you take away 3 or 4 tenths from Red Bull and add them to your team, you’ve made the coup of the decade”.

McLaren brings the ‘independents’ back into the limelight

There is also another message that arrived from the Imola weekend. McLaren winning the Miami Grand Prix was not an exploit. The substance is all there, and today it is easy to predict that Norris and Piastri will be among the great protagonists until the end of the season. An astonishing growth for the team directed by Zak Brown and Andrea Stella, which has called into question some points considered fixed in the Formula 1 paddock. It is possible to make up ground, even in a very short time.

After the exploits of Brawn GP in 2009, only two teams dictated the law: Mercedes and Red Bull. In the first case it is the offshoot of a large group in the automotive sector, which returned to Formula 1 (after the parenthesis of the 1950s) with a project based on huge capital and great technical know-how. In the Red Bull case it was a sort of technical miracle, a team that came from nothing and quickly became an excellence on all fronts. Over the years the Milton Keynes team has increasingly modeled itself with the typical characteristics of an official house: important funds,

an exclusive relationship with an engine manufacturer (Honda) and soon a proprietary power unit. In some seasons only Ferrari managed to get close to the reference tandem, otherwise the rift with the rest of the group was clear.

Andrea Stella, Team Principal, Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris, Zak Brown, CEO, McLaren Racing

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

After many years, McLaren is proposing a scenario that now seemed destined to remain in the past. A team with a customer engine, and a financial strength decidedly inferior to the teams mentioned previously, is applying for a leading role. There are those who see in this rise the first effects of the budget cap, and those who maintain that it is the right people in the right place. The name McLaren has written many glorious pages in the history of this sport, but the situation into which it had fallen had raised fears for its very survival.

Today comes a good message for all of Formula 1. With work, will and correct choices, it is still possible to return to the top. There is still a long way to go to aim for the highest goals, but the direction taken is correct. Last winter, Norris surprised everyone by confirming his desire to remain linked to McLaren even in the face of an offer from Red Bull (who had contacted him to join him alongside Verstappen), a choice that raised many doubts. Perhaps Lando saw far ahead, a future that appeared clearer to the rest of the world at the end of the last two races.