MIAMI, FLORIDA – MAY 04: Race winner Oscar Piastri of Australia and McLaren and Second placed Lando … More
Six races into the 2025 season, and McLaren is proving time and again that they are the team to beat at the moment.
Coming off their 2024 constructors’ championship triumph – their first since beating Ferrari in 1998 – and after Lando Norris was 63 points shy of claiming his maiden drivers’ title and the team’s first since 2008, it was quite clear they would go all in this year to defend their crown and achieve what slipped through their fingers last time.
Though there’s still a lot of racing left with 18 rounds to go this season, McLaren is already putting in the work to run away with their lead in both championships and patch up any weaknesses that rival teams might exploit.
The team managed to claim four wins in the first five races – three by Piastri and one by Norris – with the only blemish on their dominance so far being Max Verstappen’s triumph after he wrestled his problematic RB21 car around Suzuka Circuit to score a first victory for himself and Red Bull this season.
2025 Miami Grand Prix
As F1 made its first trip to the United States for the sixth round in Miami, it felt like a given that McLaren would deliver yet another dominant performance.
Miami had been a lucky place for the team last year where significant upgrades were introduced to the car that eventually helped them snag the constructors’ title, and it’s also where Norris scored his very first career victory.
Heading into the weekend, Piastri was leading the drivers’ championship – just 10 points ahead of his teammate. With it being a sprint weekend, there was an extra opportunity to rack up points.
But it wasn’t a smooth start to the weekend for the team however as Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli snatched pole position for the sprint race ahead of both McLaren drivers. But come sprint day, it didn’t take long for the Woking squad to flex their muscles, with Norris taking the win in a dramatic wet-dry race ahead of Piastri.
MIAMI, FLORIDA – MAY 03: Sprint winner Lando Norris of Great Britain and McLaren lifts his trophy … More
There was plenty of optimism about replicating such a stellar performance in Sunday’s main race but their qualifying results didn’t quite line up in their favor, as Norris and Piastri found themselves starting in second and fourth respectively.
Nevertheless, Piastri pulled off a flawless performance on Sunday, overtaking both Antonelli and Verstappen to snatch the lead and managing his gap to the competition all the way to the finish line.
Norris had a rough start, dropping back to sixth on the first lap after going wide while tussling for the lead with Verstappen. Yet he managed to claw his way back into contention, and as the race developed, he closed in on Piastri during the second half but the Australian kept just enough distance to maintain his edge.
With that, Piastri headed the team’s second 1-2 finish of the weekend, with Norris finishing a whopping 33 seconds ahead of third-place George Russell of Mercedes.
MIAMI, FLORIDA – MAY 04: Race winner Oscar Piastri of Australia and McLaren leaves the podium during … More
The Australian’s brilliant victory in Miami made him the first McLaren driver to win three consecutive races since 1998, and it also allowed him to stretch his lead in the drivers’ championship to 131 points, with Norris not far behind at 16 points less.
Of course all their success translates into the constructors’ standings too, with the Woking squad now sitting pretty at the top with 246 points – 105 points ahead of their closest rivals Mercedes.
Prize Money If McLaren Secured Constructors’ Title
Now if the team manages to maintain their dominance and secure the constructors’ championship again this season, they will be in line for a hefty chunk of prize money.
While the exact amount is kept under wraps, it is known that the team prize pot is made of 50% of F1’s commercial rights profit as per the Concorde Agreement.
Now teams don’t always get 50% however as Formula One Management’s share increases after reaching certain revenue thresholds. In 2022, the prize pot amounted to $1.157 billion after F1 raked in $2.57 billion in revenue, translating to about 45% of that total.
The following year in 2023, the revenue soared to $3.2 billion, meaning an estimated prize money of around $1.6 billion.
Now when it comes to how that money gets split up between teams, it’s not done equally and some factors like historical significance or past achievements like winning the championship are considered and could see a team earn an extra payment.
After all that’s factored in, the remaining figure gets split among the 10 teams. Champions take home around 14%, while the team finishing last will receive only about 6%.
Last season, McLaren was estimated to have earned $140 million after winning the constructors’ championship and is expected to earn a similar amount this year should they secure the title.
Here’s an estimation of prize money based on a $1 billion prize pot:
1st place: $140 million
2nd place: $131 million
3rd place: $122 million
4th place: $113 million
5th place: $104 million
6th place: $95 million
7th place: $87 million
8th place: $78 million
9th place: $69 million
10th place: $60 million
