Formula 1: McLaren’s resurgence resembles Nationals World Series berth

The resurgence of McLaren in Formula 1 is strangely similar to the path the Washington Nationals have taken to their first World Series appearance.

The resurgence of former Formula 1 powerhouse McLaren has been well-documented throughout the 2019 season.

After years of average and below average performances, the Woking-based team are finally at a point where they are relevant once again, even if not quite on the level of race winners Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull Racing.

Through the first 17 races of the 21-race 2019 season, the team have scored 111 points, placing them in fourth place in the constructor standings as the “best of the rest” behind these other three teams, the three teams that have combined to win each of the last 135 races going back to early 2013.

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They have recorded three season-best results of fifth place this year after recorded just four top five finishes from the 2015 season through the 2018 season.

From the 2015 season through the 2018 season, their highest point total in a single season was 76, which they recorded in the 2016 season. Their second highest point total in a single season was 62, which they recorded last season. As a result, they are in a position to potentially double this combined point total in 2019, provided they score another 27 points over the course of the season’s final four races. They finished no higher than sixth place in the constructor standings throughout this four-year span.

But the 2019 season marked the first season since the 2007 season in which the team entered a completely new driver lineup from the year before. Two-time champion Fernando Alonso retired and was replaced by Carlos Sainz Jr. while Stoffel Vandoorne was replaced by rookie Lando Norris and went to compete in Formula E.

It’s not often that you get to say that the departure of one of the greatest athletes in the history of any sport ends up improving the team, but as my colleague Ben Kuhl discussed at length in mid-July, this is exactly what has happened with McLaren, and for a multitude of reasons, none of which having anything negative to do with Alonso himself.

Just look back at the 2007 season. When Alonso arrived at the team along with rookie Lewis Hamilton, he and Hamilton combined to score enough points to deliver McLaren their first constructor championship since 1998. But the would-be champions were ultimately docked several points as a team and disqualified from title contention, handing the title to Ferrari.

Nevertheless, the driver lineup overhaul rejuvenated the team and got them back to a championship level, even though it came with the departure of Kimi Raikkonen, who ended up winning the 2007 world championship at Ferrari.

McLaren certainly aren’t at a championship level in 2019. But their season has the potential to be their best since 2012 when they finished in third place in the constructor standings, even after they just experienced four consecutive seasons with one of the greatest drivers in Formula 1 history driving for the team.

Such a resurgence resembles what is going on in Washington, D.C. with the MLB’s Washington Nationals.

In 2012, promising young rookie Bryce Harper led the Nationals to their first playoff appearance since their were still the Montreal Expos back in the 1981 season. The team ended up winning the National League East division four times from 2012 to 2017.

But not once did they win a playoff series, preventing them from ever even advancing to the NLCS.

After the 2018 season resulted in the Nationals finishing 82-80, their worst record during Harper’s seven years with the team, they knew they had to fight to retain him. They offered him a 10-year contract worth $300 million.

But Harper opted to sign a 13-year contract worth $330 million with intradivision rivals Philadelphia Phillies, a team already destined to reestablish themselves as World Series contenders after several years of mediocrity or worse.

With that in mind, here was 2019 NL East preview in a nutshell: a rebuilding, perhaps even a lost, season for the Nationals, and a World Series possibility for the Phillies.

Skip ahead seven and a half months.

The Phillies haven’t been in action for several weeks, failing to qualify for the playoffs with a record of 81-81.

The Nationals, meanwhile, await the Houston Astros in their first World Series in franchise history after beating the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Wild Card Game, edging the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS and sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLCS.

Harper himself ended up having quite a productive year in Philadelphia, hitting 35 home runs (second highest in his career) and driving in a career-high 114 runs. In fact, the Phillies’ record of 81-81 was tied for their best since they went 102-60 in 2011.

But the Nationals, like McLaren, parted ways with what the public viewed as their greatest asset. However, those cut ties put them in position to build around the many other underappreciated assets that were already growing and improving from within, and it allowed them to focus additional resources elsewhere on areas that still needed to be improved — again, just like McLaren.

For McLaren, Sainz is the “best of the rest” driver with a chance to finish in sixth place in the driver standings, a position to which no “best of the rest” driver has ascended since 2015. Norris has been sensational as a rookie at only 19 years of age, several times finishing individual races as the “best of the rest”.

For the Nationals, third baseman Anthony Rendon is an NL MVP candidate. Pitcher Stephen Strasburg is the NL Cy Young Award frontrunner.

It’s safe to say that both situations, as disheartening for fans of these teams as they may have seemed at the time, have worked out for the best.

It’s not often that comparisons can be made between Formula 1 and the MLB — other than the fact that the teams that spend the most generally reap the most benefits in terms of wins and championships — but the departures of Fernando Alonso from McLaren and Bryce Harper from the Washington Nationals, two of the faces of their respective sports departing from two seemingly reeling teams, leading to tons of additional and unexpected success for their respective ex-teams is certainly worth noting as the Formula 1 season winds down and the World Series nears its beginning in just a few days.