McLaren Conquers F1 Constructors’ Championship: Norris on the Podium

McLaren Crowned Constructors’ Champion in Singapore

McLaren secures its second consecutive Formula 1 constructors’ championship at the Singapore Grand Prix. The team successfully defended the title thanks to Sunday’s result, where Lando Norris climbed the podium and Oscar Piastri, leader of the drivers’ championship, finished in fourth position. McLaren’s dominant season has turned the championship into a formality since the summer break in August. The team has achieved 12 victories this year, seven of them with a 1-2 finish.

Although the team hasn’t won a drivers’ championship since Lewis Hamilton’s first title in 2008, both drivers are fighting to achieve it this year. Piastri leads Norris in the championship by 22 points after Singapore, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen 63 points behind Piastri in third place.

McLaren’s transformation has been one of the most remarkable stories of the modern Formula 1 era. When CEO Zak Brown took over in 2016, McLaren was in a failing partnership with Honda and often failed to advance in the first qualifying session.

The team has gone through engine agreements with Honda and its current partner Mercedes, which has proven to be a winning partnership. Brown oversaw the team’s first victory in a decade at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix.

“Pretty impressive,” Brown said of the consecutive titles after the Singapore Grand Prix. “An incredible team here, an incredible team at the factory, all the men and women have done an incredible job. The leadership that Andrea [Stella] has provided to the race team, the entire leadership team, our owners, our shareholders, it’s a team effort and it’s pretty incredible to win again, it’s been a while since we did it.”

Zak Brown

The team principal, Andrea Stella, hired the following year, has been a key piece in the puzzle for McLaren to displace Red Bull as the leading team on the grid. After the race, Stella said: “It’s an incredible emotion that I want to share with the team and thank them for the incredible work. Even with six races to go, which was incredible, but that’s thanks to the great work that has been done at McLaren.” Former Red Bull designer Rob Marshall has also played a significant role in overseeing the leading cars of the last two years. Drivers Norris and Piastri are committed to McLaren long-term, until at least 2027 and 2028, respectively.