The 10 Best Strategy Calls of 2025: strategy didn’t win on the pit wall — it won in the gaps
If 2025 taught us anything, it’s that “good strategy” isn’t a vibe. It’s a set of gaps you either close… or you bleed to death in.
The gaps between:
- a pit window that’s open in theory vs one that’s usable in traffic
- a DRS train vs clean air
- a “safe” one-stop vs a two-stop that only works if you can pass
- a tyre that’s “fine” vs a tyre that’s fine while defending
And because there’s no fastest lap bonus from 2025 onwards, teams stopped chasing that late soft-tyre point and started chasing something more valuable: control. Control of track position, stint length, and restart timing.
It’s why the season ended with the narrowest kind of headline:
- Drivers’ Championship (final): Lando Norris 423, Max Verstappen 421, Oscar Piastri 410
- Constructors’ Championship (final): McLaren 833, Mercedes 469, Red Bull 451, Ferrari 398
A two-point title margin doesn’t come from “one big decision.” It comes from ten moments where someone saw the gap first.
Below are the 10 best F1 strategy calls of the 2025 season — split strategies, rain reads, tyre boldness, and the teams who kept making the right boring choices at the exact right time.
Want to replay the title with different calls? Use our championship calculator: RaceMate Simulator.
What made 2025 strategy different?
1) No fastest lap point = fewer “free” late stops
In 2024, a late stop could be a stealth attack: you sacrifice track position for a tyre offset and chase an extra point. In 2025, that extra point is gone — so a late stop only makes sense if it wins you real positions.
That changed endgame behaviour:
- fewer late soft stints “just in case”
- more drivers defending on older tyres because the reward for pitting shrank
- more emphasis on stint durability and undercut timing
If you want the season-wide version of that story, start here: Undercut vs Overcut in 2025: What Actually Worked.
2) 2025 rewarded teams who could manufacture clean air
When pace is close, the fastest car doesn’t win — the car in clean air does.
2025 strategy winners were the teams that:
- created clean air with early stops (undercut)
- avoided “correct” stops into traffic
- used Safety Car/VSC phases to convert probability into position
The 10 Best Strategy Calls of 2025
1) Qatar GP — Red Bull pitted under the early Safety Car, and McLaren didn’t
Qatar was a pure example of strategy being decided in one lap of indecision.
With an early incident triggering a Safety Car — and with an enforced maximum stint length of 25 laps on all tyre sets — the race stopped being about “plan A.” It became about sequencing your mandatory stops.
Red Bull boxed Verstappen under the Safety Car, accepted the early commitment, and then drove a cleaner, simpler race from there.
McLaren held Norris and Piastri out. That looks logical (track position!), but the gap was in what came next:
- early pit = protected rejoin and predictable traffic
- staying out = you’re “leading” until your stop hands you back to reality
Result: Verstappen won; Norris could only recover to P4, and the title went to Abu Dhabi with the margin slashed to 12 points.
2) Spa (Belgian GP) — McLaren split compounds at the crossover, and Piastri’s timing was the difference
Spa was wet-dry, delayed, messy — and still decided by one clean strategic shape.
The crucial call wasn’t just Piastri’s pass after the rolling start. It was McLaren recognising the drying track and then splitting the strategy:
- Piastri went to mediums first (earlier commitment)
- Norris stopped a lap later and took hards
That one-lap offset sounds tiny until you remember Spa’s reality: once you lose track position, the “faster” tyre only matters if you can access it.
Piastri’s win opened a 16-point advantage at the time — proof that “one lap” is often the whole sport.
3) Silverstone (British GP) — McLaren managed the chaos, and Hülkenberg’s tyre calls were a podium blueprint
Silverstone 2025 was a strategy stress test: wet-to-dry, Safety Cars, and constant tyre switching.
McLaren’s best call wasn’t glamorous: it was staying in the race while others chased the wrong moments.
Norris won after Piastri’s 10-second penalty, but the deeper strategy lesson was how McLaren:
- kept both cars inside the “right tyre” window as conditions flipped
- avoided panic double-commits that trap you on the wrong compound
And then there’s the drive/strategy hybrid of the year: Nico Hülkenberg from P19 to P3.
That podium wasn’t “luck.” It was executing the simplest wet-dry rule better than everyone else:
Don’t be first to gamble. Be first to be right.
4) Monaco — McLaren weaponised the mandated two-stop race
Monaco is usually where strategy goes to die. In 2025, the mandatory two-stop rule changed the shape of the event — and McLaren immediately understood the new gap: traffic becomes a tool, not a problem.
Norris converted pole into victory, but the strategic win was in how McLaren navigated:
- VSC timing
- pit sequencing
- and Verstappen’s long alternate plan that held P1 until the penultimate lap
In a race where overtaking is basically a myth, the best strategy is the one that turns other people’s laps into your time gain.
5) Monza (Italian GP) — Verstappen’s “give it back now, win it back later” decision tree
Monza’s first-lap chess always tempts drivers into a penalty that ruins the entire race.
Verstappen’s weekend was defined by a clean decision chain:
- Aggressive defence into Turn 1
- Concede the position to avoid a penalty
- Re-attack on merit
- Then lock it in with an earlier stop to undercut the McLarens
That’s elite racecraft meeting elite strategy: you don’t win by being right at Turn 1 — you win by not being wrong for 53 laps.
6) Singapore — Mercedes won by making the race boring
Singapore is where tyres and brakes go to war.
Mercedes’ strategy victory was process:
- Russell controlled the race from pole
- Verstappen was kept behind with a stable stint plan
- Mercedes avoided the “panic second stop” that ruins Marina Bay races
Russell won by 5.430s — a margin that basically says: “we never let the race become a question.”
7) Baku (Azerbaijan GP) — Williams turned clean air into a podium for Sainz
Baku punishes messy stints. It’s walls, traction, and brutal tyre wake if you’re stuck behind someone.
Carlos Sainz delivered Williams’ breakthrough by executing a strategy that’s easy to describe and hard to do:
- keep the car alive in dirty air phases
- hit the pit stop sequence cleanly
- and protect track position to the flag
Verstappen went lights-to-flag; Russell was second. But the strategic headline was Sainz converting the weekend into a Williams podium.
8) Mexico City — McLaren built an unassailable lead, then defended it with VSC awareness
Mexico is thin air, high tyre temps, and a pit lane loss that makes “just stop again” a bad joke.
Norris didn’t just win — he won by 30.324s.
The best strategy call here was understanding what not to do:
- don’t chase marginal tyre gains that risk traffic
- don’t overreact to early chaos
- build the gap, then keep the race inside your control box
When the VSC arrived late, it mattered for the scraps behind — but Norris’ strategy had already removed the variable.
9) São Paulo — Red Bull turned a pit-lane start + puncture into a podium
Interlagos forces you to choose: commit early and live with it, or delay and pray for the right neutralisation.
Verstappen’s recovery drive to P3 after a pit-lane start and an early puncture was a strategy-and-execution masterpiece:
- aggressive recovery pacing without overheating tyres
- using race interruptions to reset the damage
- making the “wrong” start position irrelevant by building tyre offsets at the right time
Meanwhile Norris won, and Antonelli’s P2 showed Mercedes can capitalise when their stint shape stays clean.
10) Abu Dhabi — McLaren won the title by refusing the wrong fight
The best championship strategy is sometimes saying “no.”
Abu Dhabi was the finale where Verstappen won the race, Piastri finished P2, Norris finished P3, and Norris secured the title by two points.
McLaren’s winning call wasn’t a magic undercut. It was a championship mindset:
- prioritise points security over ego
- avoid unnecessary exposure to penalties, damage, or late-race randomness
- make Verstappen beat you at the race, not at the title
For the full race-shape breakdown, read: Abu Dhabi Decider: The Full Strategy Breakdown.
Who “won” 2025 on strategy?
If you’re looking for a team-wide answer, the standings tell you where the best decisions accumulated:
- McLaren: 833 points (constructors champions)
- Mercedes: 469
- Red Bull: 451
- Ferrari: 398
But the sharper answer is this: McLaren won by making fewer unforced errors in high-leverage moments, especially once the title fight tightened.
Red Bull were often the most decisive (Qatar is the template). Mercedes were often the most disciplined (Singapore is the template). McLaren were the most complete over a season.
And in a year without fastest lap points, completeness beats cleverness.
Try it yourself: how many points did strategy really swing?
Want to see how one call changes the championship?
- What if McLaren boxes under the Safety Car in Qatar?
- What if Las Vegas isn’t a DSQ and both McLarens score?
- What if Monaco’s two-stop sequencing flips track position at the front?
Run the scenarios with RaceMate Simulator.
Conclusion: 2025 strategy wasn’t about bravery — it was about timing
The best strategy calls of 2025 weren’t always dramatic. They were decisive.
They happened when a team:
- committed to the right tyre one lap earlier
- took the Safety Car when others hesitated
- protected track position because the points table (without fastest lap bonus) demanded it
That’s why 2025 didn’t just produce a great title fight — it produced a clear strategic truth:
Championships get decided in the gaps you can’t see on the broadcast.