F1’s pre-season testing has come to a close, and the next time we’ll see cars on track, it’ll be in the thick of a race weekend — but that hasn’t stopped a few drivers from sharing their thoughts on who has a shot to win.

Some drivers at the front of the field, like Lando Norris, are predicting another contentious season. Further down the grid, though, Fernando Alonso isn’t quite so sure.

Fernando Alonso disputes Norris’ ‘confident’ prediction

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Formula 1’s three-day period of pre-season testing has come to a conclusion, and while it’s still too early to make any sweeping judgements about the scope of the 2025 season just yet, McLaren does look strong.

Lando Norris topped the timing sheets on Day 1 before Carlos Sainz and George Russell went fastest over the subsequent two days. But it’s still enough for the Briton to feel confident heading into the year.

Speaking to media including PlanetF1.com at the 10-team F1 75 launch at the O2 Arena, Norris admitted that he’s one of the many people expecting a contentious 2025.

“It already got pretty close at the end of last year, and you already started to see the middle of the pack catching up and getting closer and closer,” he said.

“I expect that to be even more the case over the winter and into this season, you’re probably going to have some winners that aren’t McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes or Red Bull, which I think is good for Formula 1 and good for the fans.

“I think it’s not going to be just the usual guys. It’s going to be a bit different this year; maybe not at the very beginning, but certainly through the season, we’ll see it probably shake up a little bit more.”

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But according to Fernando Alonso, who spoke to media including PlanetF1.com on the final day of pre-season testing, Norris’ verdict is coming from a place of confidence.

When asked if he agreed with Norris, the Spaniard replied, “I don’t know; now that he has the winning car he says that!

“When he was the fifth or sixth team, he was saying that only one team will win all the races.”

Per Alonso, Norris’ words were “normal, confident speech,” but for the teams like Aston Martin who will be spending more time in the middle and rear of the field, “it’s going to be difficult.”

Why?

“Reliability is so good these days,” Alonso explained.

“There are not many retirements. There are not many incidents. Strategies are quite defined. Even on Thursday before coming to the grand prix, you know exactly it’s going to be one stop, two stops, which tire you will use.

“Everything is so perfect now that this is difficult to change, or to make a race unpredictable.

“It has to be crazy weather or something like that.”

As the most experienced driver on the grid, Alonso is more than aware of the fact that the pursuit of perfectionism in motorsport has somewhat reduced the ability for a surprise driver to win a race.

Those shock wins do happen — you need look no further than Pierre Gasly at Monza, or Esteban Ocon in Hungary — but the Spanish champion doesn’t seem prepared to bet on it.

In fact, throughout his 10-minute conversation with media, Alonso reiterated a few times that he doesn’t expect many mid-season shake-ups or surprises.

Still, he had some room for positivity.

“Hopefully there are multiple winners, and it’s going to be a tight championship,” he said. “Last year, it was already a good one, and hopefully this year is even better.”

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