The Formula 1 season is progressing and is now at a crucial point that is causing concern as a result of new directives issued by the FIA. Although there is no talk of a rule change, this series of clarifications has raised doubts among the leading teams, especially Red Bull and Ferrari, who believe that McLaren will be one of the big losers. The sudden loss of performance by the British team at the Imola Grand Prix has given rise to all kinds of theories, starting with a possible technical adjustment forced by the FIA.
Red Bull and Ferrari suspect McLaren
Before Imola, the FIA issued two key directives: one on the materials and fixing of the skid plates under the floor of the cars, and another on tyre cooling methods. Although they do not change the regulations, they do clarify gray areas that several teams may have been exploiting, including McLaren.
Red Bull, seeing the surprising drop in performance experienced by McLaren at Imola, suspected that these clarifications may have affected their performance. Max Verstappen had already pointed out in Miami that McLaren’s tire management was overly effective. After the Italian Grand Prix, both he and Christian Horner himself and technical director Pierre Waché agreed that they expected McLaren to be very competitive, which lends weight to the theory that the new rules may have limited their technical package.
Ferrari also believes that McLaren lost ground just after the implementation of the directives, which has not gone unnoticed by the Italian team.
McLaren denies it
McLaren has come out strongly and Andrea Stella, its director, dismissed any negative impact of the new directives and defended that the team did not change anything in response to the FIA’s clarifications. “If this distracts our rivals, all the better for us,” he said ironically.
In addition, the team pointed out that Oscar Piastri’s car was thoroughly inspected by the FIA after the Miami Grand Prix and passed all technical checks. The federation itself confirmed that the MCL39 complied with current regulations, thus dispelling any suggestion of illegality.
Stella believes that the accusations are more a reflection of the discomfort of rivals at the constant progress of the Woking team. For him, the drop in performance at Imola was circumstantial and not a direct consequence of the FIA’s technical intervention.
Barcelona will be key for McLaren
Max Verstappen has insisted that it is still too early to draw any conclusions. The Dutchman has pointed out that the competitiveness of the teams varies depending on the type of circuit and that Barcelona will offer a much closer view of McLaren’s true state of affairs. On the other hand, the Spanish Grand Prix saw the intensification of checks on flexible front wings, another of the technical issues under scrutiny.
If McLaren fails to maintain its performance and returns to the superiority it has shown so far, rumors about how the new FIA guidelines have affected them will continue to grow. But if they return to the dominance shown at the start of the championship, Imola could be just a bump in the road.
We are at one of the key moments of the 2025 season. Teams are bringing new parts for their cars and the new front wing regulations that the FIA decided to delay until Barcelona are coming into force. So far, McLaren has shown signs of being unbeatable, until Italy, and it is to be expected that, with the new FIA rules for Barcelona, they may not be as high up as expected.