Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri helped McLaren win back-to-back constructors’ championships in 2024 and 2025, something the team hadn’t done since Ayrton Senna’s time in 1991.
McLaren dominated the 2025 season, finishing with 833 points. Mercedes were a distant second with 469, while Red Bull, mostly carried by Max Verstappen’s individual tally of 421 points, finished third with a total of 451.
The last time McLaren won consecutive constructors’ titles was when Senna and Gerhard Berger secured championships in both 1990 and 1991. That period extended McLaren’s run from the late ’80s when they had also taken the title in both ’88 and ’89.
Alain Prost and Senna drove McLaren’s success through the mid-to-late ‘80s, winning drivers’ titles in ‘85, ‘86, and ‘89 for Prost, while Senna added his own in ’88, ’90, and ’91. In 2025 Lando Norris became just the eighth driver to win an F1 title for McLaren.
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri’s ‘characteristics’ highlight changes in F1 drivers since Ayrton Senna’s time
Piastri also put together a strong title challenge in 2025, leading the standings for 189 days before finishing third, just 13 points behind Norris. Even so, former Ferrari driver Ivan Capelli believes that Piastri and Norris shouldn’t be compared to McLaren legends like Prost and Senna.
Capelli, now a pundit with Sky Italy, believes that the “characteristics” of today’s drivers like Piastri and Norris are very different from those of Senna and Prost. He even feels they lack some of the edge that Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso had during their time together at McLaren in 2007.
Speaking to Fanpage, Capelli said: “McLaren have had drivers like Senna and Prost in the past, but also consider ‘Hamilton and Alonso, who had a different temperament than Oscar and Lando, who don’t say anything out of the ordinary.
“I’d add, in fairness, that the evolution of these guys’ temperaments also needs to be considered. Previously, those with the ‘hairiest chest’ made the difference [but] now some have more followers.
“It’s strange to compare Norris and Piastri to the risk-taking heroes of the ‘70s or ‘80s. Today they all live in a completely different world with different characteristics where there is much less noise.”
Lando Norris Has Shown That There Is More Than One Way to Win the F1 Drivers’ Title
Norris showed there is more than one way to win in F1 as he secured the 2025 title, as the Briton silenced the vast criticism that many voiced about his tendency to publicly question himself straight after he made a mistake and to be open about his mental health struggles.
On the other side of the McLaren garage, Piastri drew comparisons to Kimi Raikkonen for his ice-cool personality that seldom saw the Australian ruffle any feathers. Even when McLaren told Piastri to give P2 back to Norris in the Italian Grand Prix, he hid his hurt from cameras.
Piastri spoke out against McLaren’s team radio decision, as he felt they had agreed that a slower pit stop would never lead to team orders. But Piastri went along with it, since McLaren had told Norris that he would not get undercut, which ultimately then caused his season to crumble.
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