How McLaren F1 star PROTESTED team after crucial title moment

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How McLaren F1 star PROTESTED team after crucial title moment

McLaren are famous for letting their drivers race

Dan Ripley Global Editor

Professional F1 journalist and analyst

Tuesday 17 June 2025 18:59

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri's battle at the F1 Canadian Grand Prix could prove decisive in the context of the championship fight.

Norris crashed into the start straight wall (no, no, no, not the wall of champions!) and out of the race with four laps to go in Montreal while trying to pass his McLaren team-mate. He took full blame for the incident, but the loss of at least 10 world championship points could prove crucial come the end of the season.

F1 HEADLINES: Norris set for DEMOTION as official Canadian GP announcement issued

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It will do little to damage McLaren's stroll towards the constructors' championship, and the team should still be commended for allowing its drivers to fight in the interest of entertainment and keeping their drivers satisfied.

This isn't a new thing for McLaren but it has bitten them very hard in the past where a decision to let drivers race has left them leaving world title success on the table.

Most famously in 2007 when the squabbles between Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton resulted in Kimi Raikkonen swooping in from out of nowhere like a Randy Orton RKO to snatch drivers' title glory.

The pivotal point came now over 18 years ago when then world champion Alonso was dicing for a victory at the US Grand Prix against his rookie team-mate Hamilton.

Hamilton had just won his first race in Canada and was leading the title fight from Alonso by eight points (in the 10 points for a victory era).

Lando Norris crashed out of the 2025 Canadian Grand Prix

What caused Alonso and McLaren fallout in 2007?

The trouble was Alonso had No 1 status (at least in his mind) as part of his switch to the Woking outfit the previous winter from Renault.

So when Alonso was all over Hamilton's gearbox as the obvious faster driver at Indianapolis - a tough call would have to be made.

Did McLaren tell surprise title leader Hamilton to let Alonso through as part of keeping their prized asset happy and risk angering the breakthrough British star who had a very strong championship claim?

Or did they 'let them race' and risk infuriating the proven best driver on the grid at that time.

The answer was the latter and while it seemed the correct call at the time, it proved damaging and arguably key to the events that would later unfold on and off the track that lost McLaren the drivers' title, and maybe the constructors' championship too (more on that in a moment!).

Alonso protested not being let through quite clearly on the track, having been obviously held up, by weaving on the pit-straight as a clear message that he should be let through.

Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso had an uneasy 2007 relationship

What triggered McLaren's spygate scandal?

It was at this point of the 2007 season that the Alonso/McLaren relationship started to unravel into a downward spiral.

Alonso's political stance, and alleged blackmail against the team, involving the infamous spygate scandal and more team-mate skullduggery at the Hungarian Grand Prix a few weeks later, would put the team in crisis.

As well documented, the season ended with both the McLaren stars missing out on the world title by one point to Raikkonen. McLaren were also on the receiving end of an astonishing $100m fine from the FIA and kicked out of that year's constructors' championship after the Spygate scandal was self-reported - which, rightly or wrongly also might never have seen the light of day had the McLaren camp been a little bit more harmonious.

Had McLaren simply backed Alonso and gave him No 1 status and the path to US GP victory, they would have claimed the 2007 drivers' championship with the Spaniard. Along with Hamilton, it wouldn't have been unrealistic to imagine many more titles across the following seasons, especially in 2010 and 2012 despite the Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel dominance at the time.

It's a real sliding doors moment in F1 that tends to go unnoticed - in much the same way for Norris' title credentials following his moment of self proclaimed 'stupidity' in Canada.

Written by

Dan Ripley - Global Editor

I've been a massive F1 fan since the mid 1990s and continue to study the history of the sport long before that. As an experienced motor sport reporter covering F1, MotoGP and the LeMans 24 Hour race, being part of GPFans has allowed me to work with a diverse team with all sorts of different backgrounds in watching the sport and given me a greater appreciation of F1.

View full biography

McLaren Lando Norris Oscar Piastri