McLaren problem ready to hit Formula 1 after Max Verstappen exposure

McLaren were brutally exposed at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, and now Formula 1 has a huge headache in how to deal with an issue coming out of Imola - if it can be dealt with.

Here is the problem. McLaren have the best all-round package. They have a fast car with no heavy weaknesses that means they will be contenders at probably every circuit this season. Andrea Stella is a competent and respected team boss and they have two fast drivers in Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri who are set to battle for the championship. Rivals will be envious of the luxuries assembled down at Woking.

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But they don't have Max Verstappen. And the defending four-time world champion in an inferior Red Bull machine is making McLaren look rather silly seven grands prix into the season despite them already looking in a good position to win the constructors' title, and in one way or another pick up the drivers' championship too.

Verstappen's win at Imola was his second of the season and like Japan, caught many by surprise. The Red Bull is still a quick car but when Verstappen is given even an outside chance of a victory, he's taking it with both hands. With McLaren, it's the opposite. Wins are often served up to them on a plate but the moment they take their eyes away Verstappen is snatching it like a Zandvoort seagull sizing up its dinner.

This has two obvious paths for the 2025 season. Firstly we get an epic title fight where Verstappen proves to be an absolute nuisance to McLaren whose drivers take risks and points off each other throughout the season in a triple-threat match. But secondly it also could mean that the inconsistent Red Bull might not have enough over a season to sustain a championship challenge, instead having to settle for the odd win as McLaren's duo offer a duel that hasn't really caught the imagination so far.

McLaren are still rebuilding after lost years

The second path is the fear that F1 in general terms needs to avoid. The issue with McLaren is they have little captivating story arc in the present era. This is no longer the 1980s, 1990s or even the 2000s. They spent too much of the 2010s floundering along with traditional rivals Ferrari to the point the newer casual fan really has no reason to love them nor hate them from the perspective of a story.

The team doesn't have the same gravitas to act as a protagonist nor antagonist like it did when Ayrton Senna, Mika Hakkinen, Kimi Raikkonen or even some chap called Lewis Hamilton were around for them. Sadly it was as if 'popular F1' locked McLaren out around the time of the disastrous Honda link up in the mid-2010s, and they now need to become relevant again to be let back in.

Things like that can be easily fixed by charismatic and supremely talented drivers coming in - or by Norris/Piastri developing more of that in the urgency of a title fight. But for now the direct route comes elsewhere.

Enter Max Verstappen. By defeating Mercedes and F1's top dog Lewis Hamilton in 2021, his no-nonsense aggressive approach was the perfect antagonist role playing against the image portrayed at the time by Hamilton and the Silver Arrows. To top it off, he was talented enough to beat him too. Almost the perfect villain from the view of Lewis Hamilton supporters - who were and remain a large part of F1's fanbase.

Mercedes had a similar story arc in their own team for the 2010s. Hamilton vs Nico Rosberg was the only rivalry that mattered during Mercedes' dominating years and their bitter feud could be box office among a sea of dull processional Mercedes one-twos every other week.

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McLaren have nothing like that going on. No one hates McLaren, simply because there is no real reason too. But they haven't been that much fun in general to buy into them either. Norris and Piastri's relationship remains respectful and calm, crucially at least from a public perspective.

But - and here's the kicker - is there much appetite for two colleagues from a team who appear to lack any fierce rivals (these days) fighting for a championship where at the end, we know there is a Verstappen sized elephant in the room who is still considered to be the fastest man in the sport anyway - even begrudgingly by his detractors?

Until Verstappen has an equal car, or at least can be involved in a title fight against a rival with a slight favourable car handicap, F1 could struggle to get people interested in the current battle for supremacy. It's a unique problem for F1 since its progression into becoming a mainstream sport just under a decade ago following the success of Netflix series Drive to Survive, that appeals to a far greater casual audience share.

While many fans can often come for the stories and drama and stick around for the actual love of motor racing, many will likely desert if they don't get the former. McLaren and its drivers have the potential to offer it but they don't have it now, and Verstappen and his supreme talent is exposing that.

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