Lando extends contract with McLaren

[Heathwood]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/68108689

I’m pleased for Lando and I hope he’s right in having faith in McLaren to help deliver him a title. I’m also pleased that this would seem to be a sign that he’s not interested in Red Bull, despite them sniffing around him.

Right decision do we think?

[Jasandjules]

Everyone knows if you go to RB it is only to be second to Max. You will not be allowed to win the WDC. Therefore, the best chance is with another team who can provide a competitive car.

[Gazzab]

Not sure that he had much choice. Ferrari would be too much of a risk, RB is Max’s team right now, mclaren should win a race or two this season……

[Muzzer79]

I’d have waited a few months if I was him.

But he probably knows something that we don’t in respect of available seats coming up at top teams.

[entropy]

Was flabbergasted at first till I found out was only a short extension so probably the right thing.

Gives him room for manoeuvre with the new regs, whether worth committing with McLaren join a 'better' team.

[Presuming Ed]

Jasandjules said:

Everyone knows if you go to RB it is only to be second to Max. You will not be allowed to win the WDC. Therefore, the best chance is with another team who can provide a competitive car.

What a strange opinion. If someone’s faster then Max then they will be world champ, it’s how it works
Yes RB love Max but they’ll soon back someone faster, if there is such a person of course. I doubt that’s Lando but would have been good to see

[Zammy]

Presuming Ed said:

Jasandjules said:

Everyone knows if you go to RB it is only to be second to Max. You will not be allowed to win the WDC. Therefore, the best chance is with another team who can provide a competitive car.

What a strange opinion. If someone’s faster then Max then they will be world champ, it’s how it works
Yes RB love Max but they’ll soon back someone faster, if there is such a person of course. I doubt that’s Lando but would have been good to see

Don't think it is a strange opinion. The RB is made to fit for Max so might not suit Lando. Still think he would do a better job than Perez but very unlikely to beat Max... Not straight away anyway.

[Presuming Ed]

Zammy said:

Presuming Ed said:

Jasandjules said:

Everyone knows if you go to RB it is only to be second to Max. You will not be allowed to win the WDC. Therefore, the best chance is with another team who can provide a competitive car.

What a strange opinion. If someone’s faster then Max then they will be world champ, it’s how it works
Yes RB love Max but they’ll soon back someone faster, if there is such a person of course. I doubt that’s Lando but would have been good to see

Don't think it is a strange opinion. The RB is made to fit for Max so might not suit Lando. Still think he would do a better job than Perez but very unlikely to beat Max... Not straight away anyway.

I love how this is said as fact. I don’t think the designers at RB have a picture of Max on their desks and the build a car for one guy. They build a fast car, a car thats pointy because pointy is fast and they know one of their guys can handle it. No reason any other driver can’t drive that car. It is not designed around Max

[Gazzab]

Presuming Ed said:

Zammy said:

Presuming Ed said:

Jasandjules said:

Everyone knows if you go to RB it is only to be second to Max. You will not be allowed to win the WDC. Therefore, the best chance is with another team who can provide a competitive car.

What a strange opinion. If someone’s faster then Max then they will be world champ, it’s how it works
Yes RB love Max but they’ll soon back someone faster, if there is such a person of course. I doubt that’s Lando but would have been good to see

Don't think it is a strange opinion. The RB is made to fit for Max so might not suit Lando. Still think he would do a better job than Perez but very unlikely to beat Max... Not straight away anyway.

I love how this is said as fact. I don’t think the designers at RB have a picture of Max on their desks and the build a car for one guy. They build a fast car, a car thats pointy because pointy is fast and they know one of their guys can handle it. No reason any other driver can’t drive that car. It is not designed around Max

In the interview with sky lando refers to the RB being built ‘around Max’.

[Jasandjules]

Presuming Ed said:

Jasandjules said:

Everyone knows if you go to RB it is only to be second to Max. You will not be allowed to win the WDC. Therefore, the best chance is with another team who can provide a competitive car.

What a strange opinion. If someone’s faster then Max then they will be world champ, it’s how it works
Yes RB love Max but they’ll soon back someone faster, if there is such a person of course. I doubt that’s Lando but would have been good to see

When Danny was beating Max, what happened?

[Bo_apex]

Excellent driver with good anecdotes. If he can brush up his DJ skills he'll be the complete package for a night out

[Sandpit Steve]

Favourite for the Mercedes job when LH hangs up his helmet, but the unknown is exactly when. McLaren beat the Mercs in quite a few races at the end of last season, and it’s entirely possible that he could challenge for the championship in a customer engine team, given both the current regulation set and the new one in ‘26.

[blackmme]

I guess in this case timing is everything and there is an awful lot of unknown's about the overall timings.

Lando's existing deal would have ended at the end of 2025 at what most assume will be the point that Lewis retires. So that's a possible move for him that now might well be tricky / impossible as has extended beyond 2025 with McLaren. So that works better for McLaren than Lando in my opinion.

I do wonder though if going to Red Bull would actually be less risky for Lando?
If he signs with RB for 2026 onwards and he doesn't beat Max but is close (much closer the Checo) then he's almost certainly going to pick up a few wins, and not damage his reputation because who's going to expect him to beat Max (not Lando it seams)?
At some point Ferrari is going to come along to Max with a blank cheque so Lando might well find himself in a very nice position (much depends on the Red Bull-Ford engine here of course).

Now Lando is locked into McLaren against Piastri who is only going to get stronger and stronger. Lando might well come out on top but I wouldn't put a lot of money on that. They're both clearly bloody good but right now Lando has more to lose.

So Lando has potentially ruled himself out of Mercedes and Red-Bull two proven championship winning teams and committed himself to a heck of a fight in a team on the rise but still not there yet. Good / great for McLaren doesn't seem that great for Lando....

[thegreenhell]

Gazzab said:

Presuming Ed said:

Zammy said:

Presuming Ed said:

Jasandjules said:

Everyone knows if you go to RB it is only to be second to Max. You will not be allowed to win the WDC. Therefore, the best chance is with another team who can provide a competitive car.

What a strange opinion. If someone’s faster then Max then they will be world champ, it’s how it works
Yes RB love Max but they’ll soon back someone faster, if there is such a person of course. I doubt that’s Lando but would have been good to see

Don't think it is a strange opinion. The RB is made to fit for Max so might not suit Lando. Still think he would do a better job than Perez but very unlikely to beat Max... Not straight away anyway.

I love how this is said as fact. I don’t think the designers at RB have a picture of Max on their desks and the build a car for one guy. They build a fast car, a car thats pointy because pointy is fast and they know one of their guys can handle it. No reason any other driver can’t drive that car. It is not designed around Max

In the interview with sky lando refers to the RB being built ‘around Max’.

A driver will find it easier to be fast in a car that suits their natural driving style, so they don't have to think to adapt to it. Max and the very clever engineers will have worked out what type of car will be fastest for him, whether it's exactly his natural preference or something theoretically faster that he has to adapt to a little.

But it's not just about the car. Max has been within the Red Bull organisation for ten years now and is fully entrenched in the team, with strong working relationships with his engineers and team management. Everything will be geared towards him as their number one driver, even if only subconsciously. He's the guy who wins them all the races and championships, so they will naturally favour him as long he is still that guy. Any new driver going there will have to build those working relationships from scratch, on top of getting to know a new car and new environment, and also go out there and beat the other guy that the team loves, and they'll have to do it straight away before the media and everyone else starts asking questions about whether they're good enough.

Lando comes across as being a bit soft and sensitive. I don't mean that in a negative way, but he has talked about his mental health a number of times. McLaren is a nice comfortable environment for him where Zak will give him a cuddle if he needs it. Red Bull does not give that same impression.

[Bo_apex]

Presuming Ed said:

Zammy said:

Presuming Ed said:

Jasandjules said:

Everyone knows if you go to RB it is only to be second to Max. You will not be allowed to win the WDC. Therefore, the best chance is with another team who can provide a competitive car.

What a strange opinion. If someone’s faster then Max then they will be world champ, it’s how it works
Yes RB love Max but they’ll soon back someone faster, if there is such a person of course. I doubt that’s Lando but would have been good to see

Don't think it is a strange opinion. The RB is made to fit for Max so might not suit Lando. Still think he would do a better job than Perez but very unlikely to beat Max... Not straight away anyway.

I love how this is said as fact. I don’t think the designers at RB have a picture of Max on their desks and the build a car for one guy. They build a fast car, a car thats pointy because pointy is fast and they know one of their guys can handle it. No reason any other driver can’t drive that car. It is not designed around Max

according to Albon the RB is not built specifically for Max

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ddEW_jHupA

[Bo_apex]

thegreenhell said:

A driver will find it easier to be fast in a car that suits their natural driving style, so they don't have to think to adapt to it. Max and the very clever engineers will have worked out what type of car will be fastest for him, whether it's exactly his natural preference or something theoretically faster that he has to adapt to a little.

But it's not just about the car. Max has been within the Red Bull organisation for ten years now and is fully entrenched in the team, with strong working relationships with his engineers and team management. Everything will be geared towards him as their number one driver, even if only subconsciously. He's the guy who wins them all the races and championships, so they will naturally favour him as long he is still that guy. Any new driver going there will have to build those working relationships from scratch, on top of getting to know a new car and new environment, and also go out there and beat the other guy that the team loves, and they'll have to do it straight away before the media and everyone else starts asking questions about whether they're good enough.

Lando comes across as being a bit soft and sensitive. I don't mean that in a negative way, but he has talked about his mental health a number of times. McLaren is a nice comfortable environment for him where Zak will give him a cuddle if he needs it. Red Bull does not give that same impression.

Very well put.

[MustangGT]

blackmme said:

I guess in this case timing is everything and there is an awful lot of unknown's about the overall timings.

Lando's existing deal would have ended at the end of 2025 at what most assume will be the point that Lewis retires. So that's a possible move for him that now might well be tricky / impossible as has extended beyond 2025 with McLaren. So that works better for McLaren than Lando in my opinion.

I do wonder though if going to Red Bull would actually be less risky for Lando?
If he signs with RB for 2026 onwards and he doesn't beat Max but is close (much closer the Checo) then he's almost certainly going to pick up a few wins, and not damage his reputation because who's going to expect him to beat Max (not Lando it seams)?
At some point Ferrari is going to come along to Max with a blank cheque so Lando might well find himself in a very nice position (much depends on the Red Bull-Ford engine here of course).

Now Lando is locked into McLaren against Piastri who is only going to get stronger and stronger. Lando might well come out on top but I wouldn't put a lot of money on that. They're both clearly bloody good but right now Lando has more to lose.

So Lando has potentially ruled himself out of Mercedes and Red-Bull two proven championship winning teams and committed himself to a heck of a fight in a team on the rise but still not there yet. Good / great for McLaren doesn't seem that great for Lando....

Lando wants to win the WDC, not play second fiddle to Max. If he went to Red Bull he has no chance of a WDC unless Max leaves. I believe it is that simple.

[Castellet]

It’s interesting because, when Lando first emerged on the F1 scene, he was greeted with derision from some quarters, because he had apparently enjoyed a carefully managed route there with huge family financial support.
I recall, some even jokingly referenced him in the same ‘rich kid’ category as Stroll.

However, he’s emerged from that, with a modest and likeable media profile, and some pretty impressive pace and results.
These should assure him of a longterm career in F1, but there isn’t yet the evidence that he’s a future Shuey/Lewis/Max.
Although, for any driver, that’s where the car/team clearly make the difference.

[GlobalRacer]

I thought the same about Lando when he was karting. He was tiny compared to a lot of those he was competing against and with a very wealthy dad I wrote him off as nothing special.

When he got into Ginettas I really changed my mind. I think anyone who thought he was just another rich kid by the time he got to F1 isn't really a follower of motorsport.