McLaren are set to head out for the Australian Grand Prix as the favourites to start the 2025 season as the best team after F1 testing, where Lando Norris ‘caught the eye’.
Jolyon Palmer believes the Briton left a big impression on the Formula 1 paddock during last week’s three-day test at the Bahrain Grand Prix circuit. The 10 teams and 20 drivers only got three, full days to try to refine their new cars ahead of the first race of the term on March 16.
Melbourne has regained its status as the opening round for the first time since 2019, in part owing to the 2020 Australian Grand Prix being abandoned due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It was also at the Australian GP in 2019 where Norris made his Formula 1 debut with McLaren.
Jolyon Palmer thinks Lando Norris’ F1 testing race simulation ‘caught the eye’ of the paddock
Norris will now head to the 2025 Australian GP in a very different position than in 2019 with the 25-year-old chasing his first Formula 1 drivers’ championship. Not just that, Norris is the pre-season F1 title favourite and McLaren’s display at F1 testing has strengthened his status.
Not everyone has the four-time Grand Prix winner as the champion-elect, though. F1 testing suggested McLaren have the best car as they try to defend the constructors’ title but Palmer feels Max Verstappen and not Norris is the 2025 title favourite as he bids for a fifth in a row.
Still, Palmer believes that the race simulation that Norris produced on Day Two of F1 testing in Bahrain underlined the strengths of McLaren’s MCL39 with its upgraded front suspension. But the conditions aided the Briton’s times with Oscar Piastri unable to replicate Norris’ run.
READ MORE: McLaren driver Lando Norris’ life outside F1 from parents to celebration
Palmer has told the Formula 1 website: “In terms of a pecking order, it was McLaren – who finished off 2024 so well – who look to be in a strong position this year, even if the headline times don’t show it.
“Race runs are usually the best barometer of where teams are as it becomes much harder to disguise fuel loads when the car is doing a Grand Prix distance, and Lando Norris’ effort on Day Two caught the eye in the paddock.
“Andrea Stella did note that conditions were flattering them on that late afternoon run, with cool temperatures and low winds helping them keep the car in an optimal window, and sure enough Oscar Piastri’s run the next day wasn’t quite as impressive in inferior conditions.”
Lando Norris must outshine Oscar Piastri on merit early on to earn No1 status at McLaren
F1 testing was the first chance for teams to test out their new cars and for rival crews to see where the competition has tried to improve before the new Formula 1 season begins. Three days in the Bahrain desert also saw Norris further his status as many people’s title favourite.
READ MORE: Every error that cost Lando Norris points in his failed 2024 F1 title challenge
| Category | Lando Norris | Oscar Piastri |
| 2024 points | 374 | 292 |
| Grand Prix results | 16 | 8 |
| Grand Prix qualifying | 20 | 4 |
| Grand Prix wins | 4 | 2 |
| Grand Prix poles | 8 | 0 |
| Grand Prix podiums | 13 | 8 |
| Best finish | 1st | 1st |
| Retirements | 1 | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 6 | 1 |
| Grand Prix points finishes | 23 | 23 |
| Sprint results | 3 | 3 |
| Sprint Qualifying | 4 | 2 |
| Sprint wins | 1 | 1 |
| Sprint poles | 2 | 1 |
| Sprint podiums | 4 | 3 |
But the Briton may have to overcome Piastri feeling Verstappen has an advantage without a title rival at Red Bull, while McLaren plus Ferrari and Mercedes boast two drivers with equal status. Having fired Sergio Perez, Red Bull are clear that Liam Lawson is Verstappen’s No2.
Norris, therefore, may have to hope that it was not only the conditions in Sakhir that saw his race simulation catch the eye of the paddock during testing and outshine Piastri’s efforts. He may have to hit the season running as McLaren’s clear title favourite to land favourable calls.
