Max Verstappen believes he’s pinpointed the secret to McLaren’s success, and it’s not tyre water or flexi wings, it’s the MCL39’s medium corner speed that is “incredible” compared to the rest of the grid.

McLaren entered the F1 2025 championship as the clear favourite for the titles after last year’s progress saw the Woking team not only challenge for the Drivers’ title, but win its first Constructors’ crown since 1998.

Has Max Verstappen uncovered the secret to McLaren’s success?

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Building on that success with this year’s MCL39, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris have won 11 of 14 grands prix, seven of which have been 1-2 results.

The team has the Constructors’ title in the bag, bar the shouting, with 559 points to nearest rival Ferrari’s 260, while Piastri and Norris are in a two-driver race for the World title. Piastri is leading by nine points ahead of his team-mate, who in turn is 88 clear of Verstappen.

McLaren’s key to success has been the subject of many rumours in the last 18 months, with rival teams – notably Red Bull – questioning its ability to keep the MCL’s tyres alive longer than any rivals could.

Throwing out suspicions that McLaren was injecting a small amount of water into its tyres to aid cooling and thus performance, fingers were also pointed at uncovered holes in the brake drum. Red Bull also reportedly resorted to using thermal cameras to capture the temperatures of the McLaren MCL39 tyre cooling ducts during pit stops.

According to Verstappen, though, while McLaren’s minimal tyre degradation does play a role, it is the MCL39’s medium cornering speed that sets the car apart from any other on the grid.

F1 2025: The season’s winners and losers

👉 The results of the F1 2025 championship

👉 The updated Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship standings

Proclaiming McLaren’s advantage was that the MCL39 was “definitely better on its tyres”, he continued to the media, including PlanetF1.com, “at the same time, I think their medium speed performance is incredible compared to, I would say, everyone else on the grid.

“The rotation that they have on the front axle, without losing the rear, is something that is also quite incredible to see, and that’s something that we have to try to achieve.”

Racing at the Hungaroring, the last grand prix on the calendar before the summer break, McLaren clinched its fourth 1-2 result on the trot on the tight twisty circuit.

Although Piastri was pipped to pole position by 0.026s by Charles Leclerc, McLaren had the better pace in the grand prix and through strategy and pace overhauled the Ferrari driver for Norris to take the win ahead of his team-mate.

The MCL39’s balanced package displayed a clear and measurable advantage, especially in the corners.

After months of outrageous accusations, Stella says Verstappen has finally caught on to McLaren’s secret.

Asked about Verstappen’s cornering speed assessment, Stella replied: “That’s an easy answer because it can be answered just by looking at the GPS data. When you look at the speed comparison with some other teams, the data says that McLaren can generate the highest mid-corner speed in medium-speed corners.

“So, I think the assessment of Max is correct.

“We still have our weak points. If you go on a very high-speed corner like Copse, for instance, or Pouhon, we are not the fastest car. Likewise, probably in very low speed, we are not the fastest car.

“But the majority of corners in a championship happen to be medium-speed corners, and certainly in that range, our car is, data in hand, the best.”

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