With the 2025 Formula One season coming to a close, the final stretch of the season is shaping up to be a tense three-way contention to decide the drivers' championship. What was initially a display of McLaren dominance on the racetrack, having clinched the constructors' championship following the Singapore Grand Prix, has started to unravel for the British team, with the once-expected easy victories slipping amid team drama, controversy and lawsuits.

Max Verstappen, who had been initially written off as out of contention for the driver's championship, had re-emerged as a candidate to challenge the dominant McLaren drivers, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris. Within eight race weekends, Verstappen closed the point deficit gap to the championship leader from 104 in Zandvoort to 12 in the most recent race in Qatar, where he won. Max Verstappen is potentially back in the fight to win his fifth title, before either of the McLaren drivers can claim their first.

The recent struggles of the dethroned championship leader, Piastri, had left a single point separating the McLaren drivers from taking the championship lead after the Mexico Grand Prix, and a McLaren double disqualification after the Las Vegas Grand Prix had left Piastri and Verstappen tied in points coming into Qatar.  The point gap has been slowly closing between the lead contenders, and there is high anticipation for a thrilling season conclusion.

In the wake of his dominance in 2023, Verstappen has become a lightning rod for fan hostility to the point that he draws boos from the crowd on the podium. However, in a stunning contrast this year, there has been a rise in support for the Dutch driver, with crowds cheering for Verstappen. At the same time, vitriol is being redirected at McLaren. In particular, Lando Norris.

As McLaren has become more competitive over the past two years, the team has developed a supposedly 'non-preferential system' for its two drivers, popularly dubbed by fans as the infamous "Papaya Rules." There is no specific description of what this system is, other than the idea that the team will allow their drivers to race one another, as long as they do not crash. McLaren has been outspoken in claiming not to have a number one and two driver, preaching 'fairness'. However, this claim is criticised by fans, who allege favouritism and differential treatment amongst the drivers.

Oscar Piastri obtained his first Grand Prix victory in late 2024, when McLaren was re-emerging as a contender for the 2024 Championship. This win was an anticlimactic act of team orders for Lando Norris, requiring him to give the position back after a pitstop led him to lose the lead. However, this fairness was postponed to enable Norris to battle for the Championship with Verstappen.

This fairness within McLaren has become a more prominent talking point this season, as many claim a bias in favour of Norris. The point of eruption was the controversial decision made at the Italian Grand Prix, where, after a botched pitstop for Norris, Piastri ended up in front of his teammate and was ordered to give Norris the position back. With both drivers, the top contenders for the win this year, it can be frustrating to witness a limitation on the championship battle as a result of ensuring fairness within a team. As a result of McLaren's 'no number one driver dynamic' dynamic, the team is left in a grey area when deciding what warrants team orders and intervention, and what is and is not fair. 

Up until the Mexican Grand Prix, Piastri had led the drivers' championship for the bulk of the season. However, following the race, Norris had overtaken Piastri in the championship race by one point.  With controversial team orders from McLaren, there is a significant difference in public opinion of Piastri versus Norris. Much of the Australian press has criticised McLaren for unjustly treating Piastri and favouring Norris, sparking a massive storm of negative comments towards the British driver.

Norris has seemingly become the punching bag for fan dissatisfaction towards the current McLaren team's dynamics. Although this uproar could be dismissed as unsportsmanlike hatred by fans, it is McLaren's decisions as a team that have seemingly fanned the flames.

Amid claims of favouritism towards Norris, when McLaren won the constructors' title back in early October at the Singapore Grand Prix, they celebrated on the podium with the entire team… Except that one key person was missing from the display: their (at the time) Championship leader, Piastri, who had endured a not-so-satisfying race, placing fourth.

To make McLaren's publicity situation even worse, the controversial Singapore Grand Prix celebrations coincided with an explosive lawsuit against their former IndyCar and F1 reserve driver, Alex Palou, whom they accused of breaching his contract. What really captured public attention, however, were the details in the case relating to Piastri. Palou claimed that he signed with McLaren with the prospect of eventually obtaining an F1 seat, and alleged that the decision to sign Piastri did not come from McLaren CEO Zak Brown, which only further fuelled existing accusations of possible favouritism towards Norris.

Although it came to a shaky conclusion, McLaren has proved itself a returning powerhouse in the sport, winning the 2025 constructors' championship and becoming the second-most successful team in Formula One history. Having slugged around the back of the grid in 2023, the team has, aside from all the controversies as of late, had a true return to greatness, with two highly skilled drivers making racing entertaining and exciting. And with the uncertainty of the final race in Abu Dhabi and how tight the championship is getting, it is anyone's game.