McLaren miss out on landmark F1 record after horror Las Vegas disqualification

During F1's summer break, it was quite clear McLaren was going to win the constructors' championship and that one of Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri would be drivers' champion.

In the four races prior to the mid-season break, Austria, Britain, Belgium and Hungary, the team scored four one-two finishes as attention turned to whether a glass ceiling landmark could have been broken. 

McLaren had the potential to score 1,000 points in the constructors' championship, but could have only achieved a maximum of 1,043, giving it 43 to play with. By the time of the Las Vegas GP, the possibility of 1,000 points was long gone after Norris's Zandvoort DNF and Piastri's severe wobble in form, but another prize was still in their sights.

The most points scored in a constructors' championship season.

That record belongs to Red Bull, who hauled 860 points in 2023 with 21 wins from 22 races in Max Verstappen's crushing season. 

In the end, McLaren scored a total of 833 points split between 423 for Norris and 410 for Piastri, placing it just 27 behind Red Bull's record.

If the points for Norris's second place (18) and Piastri's fourth (12) were not expunged for excessive plank wear, those extra 30 points would have had McLaren finish on 863 points, thus beating Red Bull's record. 

However, the caveat must be applied that there were only 22 grands prix in 2023, with six Sprints, with an extra 22 points available for race fastest lap compared to 24 races, six Sprints and no fastest lap point in 2025.

 Check out the table below for the most points scored in a constructors' championship season!