HALF TERM REPORT: McLaren – After a strong 2024 so far, can they learn from their errors and fight for the championship?

It has been quite the season so far for McLaren, with the Woking outfit having rapidly become Red Bull’s closest challengers for the constructors’ crown. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have each taken breakthrough victories and numerous podiums – but can the team learn from the mistakes made during the first half of the season and come back even stronger? Let’s take a look at their half term report…

• Read all the 2024 half term reports here

Best finish

Lando Norris – 1st in Miami; Oscar Piastri – 1st in Hungary

McLaren enjoyed a decent start to the campaign, collecting solid points in the opening few races. But there were signs of what was to come at Round 5 in China, where Norris delivered an assured performance to take P2 on a weekend where the team had expected to struggle.

Just two weeks later, the Briton went even better by sealing an emotional – and long-awaited – maiden F1 win at the Miami Grand Prix. While he benefitted from a well-timed Safety Car – and an upgraded MCL38 – Norris executed the race restart perfectly and took the chequered flag seven seconds ahead of Max Verstappen in P2.

It was a popular victory that earned Norris praise from his rivals and provided a feel-good moment for the paddock. McLaren’s next win in Hungary, however, came with some slightly different vibes amid a complicated team orders call.

While Piastri had led for much of the race, Norris was pitted first during the second round of stops and subsequently ended up ahead on track. This led to the squad requesting that the latter hand the position back and, after some tense back and forth over the radio, Norris eventually did so, helping the team to score their first one-two result since 2021.

Qualifying head-to-head

Norris 11-3 Piastri

They may both still be young drivers, but the extra F1 experience that Norris possesses seems to show when it comes to the intra-team head-to-heads. The 24-year-old has comfortably beaten his team mate in qualifying so far, having only lost out to Piastri on three occasions during the first half of 2024 (in Saudi Arabia, Imola and Monaco).

Norris is also responsible for McLaren’s two pole positions, taken during the Spanish and Hungarian Grand Prix weekends, plus he gets an honorary shoutout for claiming the debut Sprint Qualifying pole of the year amid mixed weather conditions in China.

READ MORE: Best moments, biggest shocks and star drivers – Our writers reflect on 2024 at the midway point of the season

Race head-to-head

Norris 9-5 Piastri

It is again Norris on top in terms of race day results, with the British driver crossing the line ahead of Piastri at nine events so far. Piastri has looked increasingly strong as the season has progressed, however, as the Australian has finished in front at three of the last four weekends.

McLaren have displayed impressive reliability to date, reflected by the fact that both drivers have been classified at all 14 rounds. Norris did not make it to the end of the Austrian Grand Prix following his late-race clash with Verstappen as they scrapped for the lead (more on which later), but was still classed as 20th when he retired seven laps before the chequered flag.

Piastri, meanwhile, has scored points at every race so far barring Miami, where he slipped down to P13 after losing out during the Safety Car phase and making contact with the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz.

Best moment

As touched on above, Norris’ first F1 victory in Miami was undeniably special. The Briton had memorably come close to the feat before, most notably at the 2021 Russian Grand Prix, where his gamble to stay out on slick tyres when rain fell during the final laps saw him slide out of the lead.

It was a painful loss for Norris, meaning that his triumph at the Miami International Autodrome – over two and a half years later – was all the sweeter and served as an answer to those who had criticised him in the time between.

TREMAYNE: It’s already a breakthrough year for Norris – now McLaren need to decide exactly what they want from him

Worst moment

The Austrian Grand Prix was close to becoming Norris’ second win in the sport, with the McLaren driver chasing down Verstappen in a nail-biting battle for the lead as the race entered its latter stages. However, contact between the pair on Lap 64 of 71 saw them both pick up a puncture and crawl back to the pits.

Norris was unable to continue and came away empty-handed, while Verstappen received a 10-second penalty after being deemed at fault for the collision. The incident seemed to mark a shift in the previously friendly dynamic between the two drivers.

To make matters worse, Norris was again denied a potential victory one week later at Silverstone – with the team later admitting that they had “got it wrong” in terms of some of their key decisions during the race. Similarly, the confusion that arose from the aforementioned team orders dilemma in Hungary was another tricky moment for the squad.

Going forward

As previously mentioned, Piastri has outscored Norris at three of the last four rounds – partly due to those incidents and misjudged strategy calls for Norris – and the often self-critical Briton seemed particularly tough on himself at the final round before the summer break in Belgium.

A wide moment on the first lap saw Norris lose positions and eventually end the race in P6, which later became P5 following George Russell’s disqualification. He subsequently labelled his mistake as “embarrassing” and went on to suggest that he needed a “reset” over the summer break. Being Verstappen’s nearest challenger in the standings, it will be fascinating to see if a rejuvenated Norris can continue to close in on the Dutchman.

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Piastri, meanwhile, will be hoping to continue his good run of form as the team look to take the fight to Red Bull in the constructors’ championship, with the gap now down to just 42 points ahead of the final 10 races of the season.

But perhaps the key focus for McLaren going forward will be to iron out the kinks when it comes to their decision-making. As acknowledged by CEO Zak Brown, the squad’s rapid trajectory has taken them somewhat by surprise, meaning that they “still have learning to do” from what he called a “variety of errors”. Their ability to remedy this could prove crucial when it comes to making a serious bid for the teams’ title.