Is McLaren too far gone in the title race?

OVER the past two decades, there’s never really been any real rivalry at the top of Formula 1. It’s mainly been one team dominating and the rest of the top four trying to catch up as closely as possible. 

Since the second half of last season, and all of this season, McLaren have been the team everyone is trying to catch up with. But mid-way through the season it looks as though it's already over for everyone else. 

Be it the Constructors or the Drivers World Title, the chances of any other team but papaya lifting the silverware at the end of the season are slim to none. The double podium in Belgium put them over 250 points clear in the Constructors race. 

Oscar Piastri is around 80 points clear of Max Verstappen in third place with the battle for World Champion seemingly fixed between the young Aussie and his teammate Lando Norris. 

Long term pace setting McLaren apart 

What has been evident this season is McLaren’s pace, not just over the short term but the long term main race as well. Verstappen has only managed to post quick times during the shorter format qualifying and sprint rounds but the RB21 cannot seem to go the distance on all flat out tracks and wet conditions. 

Once in the lead on a Sunday, both of the McLarens' have been extremely difficult to catch for the likes of Red Bull, Ferrari or Mercedes. Balance and downforce has been the bane of existence for many teams in the paddock this season, not just the bottom three of the top -four. 

The Ferrari’s have shown greater potential of putting up a fight against Zak Brown’s team compared to Red Bull, but even the great Lewis Hamilton cannot seem to catch the orange zap. Hamilton gave an exhilarating performance in a soaking wet Spa on Sunday, fighting up nine places from P16 to P7.

Charles Leclerc finished P3, his second podium of the year, but was 20 seconds behind Piastri and around 17 seconds behind Norris - painting a clear picture of the McLaren pace in hell or high water. 

McLaren’s keen tyre management

One stand out feature so far this season has been McLaren’s ability to efficiently manage its tyres when compared to the other top four teams. Tyre management has been an area of excellence for McLaren, especially in hot conditions - where the rubber is eaten much faster. 

Speculation in the paddock and world of F1 has suggested that McLaren tyre secret could revolve around phase change materials. Aero Design Engineer Martin Bhunchan, a former F1 engineer who wrote his thesis at McLaren 8 years ago, suspects McLaren could be using the technology to get better tyre management. 

But this process only helps cool the tyres by the use of air alone and cannot be entirely responsible for their stellar rubber management. 

The answer may also lie in the materials themselves, the reaction to heat and how high a melting point they have compared to the ones other teams are using.