“We Will Have the Same Story in 2026”: Expert Warns if Rivals Fail to Counter McLaren’s Strength

Life came full circle for McLaren at the 2025 Miami GP, last weekend. Lando Norris had bagged his maiden win at the Miami International Autodrome this time last year, and in doing so, put his hat in the world championship conversation.

12 months later, McLaren have secured a dominant 1-2 finish in Miami, taking the chequered flag a whopping 32 seconds ahead of their closest rivals on track. With Oscar Piastri extending his lead in the drivers’ championship, the Woking-based team has finally proved its credentials as the benchmark of the field, ready to wrap up both the titles in 2025.

But what has been the key to McLaren’s blistering pace on track? Auto Motor und Sport’s Michael Schmidt reveals the hidden tricks on the MCL39 that have allowed them to have a superior lead over their rivals in terms of tire degradation.

“McLaren has one part, which they control better than any other team, and that is the tire management,” began Schmidt. Although, how is it that McLaren are seemingly unparalleled on the tire management front?

Schmidt pointed out how a clever brake duct exploit has possibly allowed McLaren to achieve a low rate of tire wear. “Everyone agrees that McLaren uses a trick with the air inlets at the brakes. It’s hard to say what exactly they’re doing, but it must have to do with the airflow at the brakes on the inside of that brake drum,” he added.

In fact, revered F1 journalist, Giorgio Piola recently explained with an illustrative example how the brake ducts have transformed between the MCL38 and the MCL39—allowing the tires to remain in an optimum temperature window for sustained periods even under excessive braking force and heat.

The McLaren’s dominance at Miami pointed out again the MCL 39 perfect tyres management. Teams attention is focused on the sophisticated brakes drums managing to better control and reduce tyres wear. pic.twitter.com/Af9XTaPfQo

— Giorgio Piola_design (@pioladesign) May 5, 2025

If this is an innovation that other teams in the paddock cannot easily replicate, McLaren are locking in a long-term advantage.

Schmidt also flagged a warning to the team’s rivals such as Red Bull, Ferrari, and Mercedes. With the braking system remaining untouched in the 2026 regulations reset, McLaren’s dominance could continue with this clever system even into the latest era of the sport unless the others can decipher the trick.

“The alarming thing for the other teams is that this trick can also work next year, because the brakes will remain the same. This system can work with any car. This will always be an important factor. The competition must figure out what they are doing as soon as possible. Otherwise, we will have the same story in 2026,” he concluded.

The likes of Red Bull truly seem stumped by what McLaren has been able to achieve this season in terms of tire management. A testament to this is the bizarre theories coming out of rival teams leveling allegations on the Woking-based outfit.

Most recently, it was alleged by the Milton Keynes-based team that McLaren were using an illegal system on their cars that allowed water to be sprinkled on the tires to keep them cool. The FIA duly investigated the matter but couldn’t find any transgressions.

In response, McLaren CEO, Zak Brown took a hilarious jibe at Red Bull by sipping water on the pit wall from a bottle labeled ‘Tire Water’ during the Miami GP weekend, last Friday.