Could a larger Orion-class leap have changed the naval race?

Would a more ambitious technological leap in the Orion class have weakened Britain and produced a very different First World War?

Not necessarily; it might have made the dreadnought race too expensive for Germany, reduced the naval threat perceived by Britain, and changed the diplomatic conditions under which Britain entered the war.

Germany possessed the industrial potential to compete at sea, but doing so required infrastructure and money that its politically entrenched army also demanded. A larger British technological leap could therefore have raised the price of competition until the German army prevailed in the budget struggle and the navy dropped out sooner. If Germany withdrew from the naval race around 1910, the resulting reduction in Anglo-German tension could make British neutrality more plausible, especially if Germany avoided Belgium. A more ambitious Orion class would therefore change more than Britain's chances in a naval war; it could alter whether Britain entered a continental war at all.