F1 paddock figures disagree with what Red Bull and Ferrari are now saying about McLaren’s car

McLaren have often enjoyed a clear advantage over Red Bull and Ferrari over the early rounds of the 2025 F1 season, to even draw cynicism from their rivals about their car.

The MCL39 is not an all-conquering force like the RB19 in which Max Verstappen of Red Bull won 19 of the 22 Grands Prix held in 2023. But Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris have won five of the first seven races to start the 2025 season before this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix.

Circuit configurations have largely been critical to Piastri earning McLaren commanding wins at the Chinese, Bahrain and Miami Grands Prix. He won by 11.097s, 15.499s and 37.644s to the first non-McLaren driver in Shanghai, Sakhir and Florida thanks to the high-speed tracks.

Also, McLaren developed a clever brake drum solution to manage tyre temperatures, which raised doubts among some of their rival squads. Red Bull have bombarded the FIA to review McLaren’s car this season and doubts still linger in Milton Keynes about their rival’s package.

F1 paddock disagrees with Red Bull and Ferrari about the FIA’s flexi-wing clampdown hurting McLaren

McLaren’s car has passed every check the FIA has carried out over the 2025 F1 season. Yet Marca now reports that Red Bull and Ferrari continue to have questions about McLaren’s car and have high hopes for the FIA’s flexi-wing clampdown coming at Barcelona derailing them.

Red Bull, in particular, have been ‘urging’ the FIA ‘behind the scenes’ to enforce stricter tests on flexible front wings, having first developed concerns about McLaren’s car amid the 2024 campaign. Ferrari also believe the regulation coming in Spain may change the pecking order.

READ MORE: All you need to know about McLaren F1 Team from team principal to engine

But ‘some in the paddock’ disagree with Red Bull and Ferrari’s expectations, and also hopes, that the FIA reducing the amount allowed in the regulations for a front wing to flex during a static load test from 15mm to 10mm will limit McLaren as the MCL39 has further strengths.

Additionally, the FIA’s flexi-wing clampdown coming next week at the Spanish Grand Prix on May 30-June 1 has seen every F1 team have to design a new front wing to meet the revised regulation. Some teams have already run their modified front wings before the change, too.

Ferrari have bigger problems than relying on the FIA’s flexi-wing rule change costing McLaren

Red Bull and Ferrari will no doubt pay very close attention to how McLaren’s car performs at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya during next weekend’s Spanish GP as the FIA’s flexi-wing clampdown comes into effect. Yet McLaren’s engineers will also be tracking their rivals’ cars.

Ferrari, especially, will hope the new regulations help them challenge McLaren again, having only lost out to the Woking natives for the 2024 F1 constructors’ championship by 14 points. The Scuderia already sit 165 points off the papaya crew after the first seven rounds of 2025.

READ MORE: All you need to know about Scuderia Ferrari from team principal to factory

Red Bull and Ferrari would even still be behind McLaren in the 2025 constructors’ standings by 34 points if they combined their 131 and 114 points. Yet Red Bull’s deficit is also down to only having Verstappen regularly score points with the Dutchman earning 124 of their total.

Only McLaren pair Piastri and Norris have out-scored Verstappen so far this season with 146 and 133 points ahead of the Monaco GP. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, sit on 61 and 53 points, so will hope Ferrari’s rear suspension upgrade due at Silverstone works.