Nico Rosberg claimed that, from his conversations with Mercedes and Red Bull, they say McLaren “really nailed it” with their 2024 car.
McLaren won the Constructors’ Championship for the first time since 1998, though it was Max Verstappen who brought home the Drivers’ title for a fourth consecutive season.
Nico Rosberg claims ‘other teams are in awe’ of McLaren progress
McLaren started the 2023 season as one of the slowest cars on the grid, but a raft of upgrades at that year’s Austrian Grand Prix catapulted them from the lower midfield into podium contention.
Their progress continued and both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri took their first career victories in Formula 1 in 2024, with Norris mounting the closest title challenge to Verstappen in the Drivers’ standings.
Given the rate of improvement, 2016 World Champion Rosberg said McLaren’s rivals have looked to them “in awe” at their progress.
“You’re saying all departments are working – you hear that from the rival teams, like when I speak to Red Bull or Mercedes, they say they’ve really nailed it,” Rosberg said of McLaren on Sky Sports F1.
More on the upcoming F1 2025 season
???? F1 driver contracts: Who is out of contract at the end of the 2025 season?
???? 14 drivers we can’t believe were on the same F1 grid together
“The geometry on the car maximises the tyres, the aerodynamics, every piece on the car is like really at the limit. Even some of the flex, you know that there’s some limitation – they’ve really maximised every single area.
“So the other teams are really in awe of that technological progress that McLaren has made, and it’s just incredible performance.”
Norris said he is not a believer in momentum as he looked ahead to 2025, but wants to start the year with the mindset of believing he will look to challenge from the title from Australia onwards.
“On the whole, next year is hopefully a year where I can go in and decide from the before the first race, we’re going to fight for a championship,” Norris told media including PlanetF1.com in Abu Dhabi.
“We’ve not ever thought of that. We’ve not even had the feeling of it from a team perspective, and also for me as a driver.
“So hopefully next year is that year, and we obviously have a lot of work to do, and Ferrari are going to be pushing a lot, but that’s another year.”
Read next: Adrian Newey issues Aston Martin update after Red Bull ‘blocked my tools’