McLaren are just a few weeks away from starting their first title defence since Lewis Hamilton won the 2008 Drivers’ Championship.
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri drove superbly throughout 2024 as McLaren clinched the team’s first Constructors’ Championship title since 1998.
It went down to the final race last year, but Norris’ victory in Abu Dhabi was enough to fend off Ferrari, despite Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc joining him on the podium.
Leclerc drove incredibly in Abu Dhabi and that would have sent a warning to team principal Andrea Stella that McLaren need to continue improving heading into the final year of this current set of regulations.
Many are tipping 2025 to be one of the closest seasons in Formula 1 history, with the top four teams regularly separated by just tenths of a second during qualifying last year and an additional winter of development set to bring each team ever closer together.
Ferrari have taken a calculated risk with their 2025 car in the hope that Leclerc and new signing Lewis Hamilton can topple McLaren and Max Verstappen at the top of each championship.
However, every team on the grid know that there’s a brand new set of regulations looming in 2026.
McLaren and Ferrari were the latest teams to take part in a Pirelli tyre test in Barcelona, home of the Spanish Grand Prix to help F1’s tyre manufacturer gather data.
Next year’s tyres will be 25mm narrower and among other changes, they’re likely to have an impact on how fast Formula 1 cars are next year.
Lando Norris’ Pirelli tyre test times much slower than 2024 pole position lap
A report from Motorsport Italia has shared more details about Norris’ recent test.
On Tuesday, he was on track with Hamilton and Leclerc who also tested Pirelli’s tyres.
While Ferrari used a modified version of their 2024 car to test the tyres, McLaren opted to use their 2023 car instead.
The MCL60 ended the season as one of the fastest cars on the grid but wasn’t as competitive as last year’s championship-winning machine.
McLaren had to make multiple aerodynamic changes to their car before Norris took to the track and they would have had very limited access to the data that Pirelli gathered.
READ MORE: McLaren driver Lando Norris’ life outside F1 from parents to celebration
Across 159 laps, Norris’ best time was a 1:15.210, although he and McLaren wouldn’t have known what tyre compound he set that lap time using.
In contrast, Hamilton’s fastest time was a 1:15.930 and Leclerc’s a 1:16.060.
While Norris wasn’t using last year’s car and was doing continuous long runs rather than qualifying times, his lap was 3.872 seconds slower than the time that earned him pole position last season.
His 1:11.383 saw him pip Verstappen by two-tenths of a second, while a more realistic time to compare his lap to was his fastest lap in the race, which was a 1:17.115.
| Driver | Car | Time | Gap |
| Lando Norris | 2024 – Pole position lap | 1:11.383 | |
| Lando Norris | 2023 – 2026 Pirelli tyre test | 1:15.210 | +3.827 |
| Lewis Hamilton | 2024 – 2026 Pirelli tyre test | 1:15.930 | +4.547 |
| Charles Leclerc | 2024 – 2026 Pirelli tyre test | 1:16.060 | +4.677 |
| Lando Norris | 2023 – Spanish GP – Race | 1:17.115 | +5.732 |
McLaren facing Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri problem to win the 2025 championship
McLaren might not be too worried about the lap times from their Pirelli tyre test, although the feedback they receive from Norris and Piastri could be useful for developing next year’s car.
Norris has been told Piastri will be his biggest problem next year, rather than Verstappen if McLaren’s car is competitive.
The Australian proved on several occasions last year that he’s not afraid to battle with Norris, even if it could potentially harm the team.
READ MORE: All you need to know about McLaren F1 Team from team principal to engine
It’ll be up to Zak Brown and Stella to deal with that situation if it arises, but it’s a nice problem to have.
Piastri is likely to extend his contract this year, meaning that one of the most intriguing intra-team battles on the grid will continue for years to come.
