McLaren emerged from Formula 1 pre-season testing as the team to beat in 2025, after showing strong pace over the course of the three days.
Although it is tough to read too much into the times, Lando Norris impressed everyone with his race run on the second day of testing.
Norris’ times were good enough to win the Bahrain Grand Prix by over 20 seconds to Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
Ferrari likely had their engines turned down while Mercedes was also holding back pace after GPS data appeared to put the Silver Arrows second-best throughout a lap.
McLaren’s form is very much a continuation of their impressive pace last year which enabled them to seal their first Constructors’ Championship last year, however, journalist Michael Schmidt believes the team has discovered one ‘secret’ of the current ruleset that sets them apart from rivals.
McLaren bringing developments without upsetting car balance
The current generation of ground-effect F1 cars are difficult to develop, simply because they are very sensitive to small ride height changes.
Red Bull broke one of the ‘golden rules’ of the current ruleset last year, which impacted them massively midway through the season. McLaren has found a sweet spot where it can still bring developments which add performance, without compromising their setup, according to Schmidt.
“I think the Ferrari is decent to drive but it’s just too slow. Perhaps the downforce is lacking compared to McLaren, you could certainly gain more downforce but it will become unstable again,” said Schmidt.
“It’s the secret of the McLaren, they seem to have somehow understood that they are still developing these cars without getting into balance with the car and that is perhaps the key that McLaren has at the moment and no one else.”
Lando Norris ‘even more dangerous’ this season
Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has warned that the team is behind McLaren in the 2025 order, after seeing their times in testing.
Marko thinks Norris poses an ‘even more dangerous’ threat to Verstappen’s title defence this season, which will be the first time in three years he will struggle.
READ MORE: The best moments of Lando Norris’ career in Formula 1
Verstappen has been comfortably ahead of the pack at the start of each season, but now it appears Red Bull will be playing catchup.
Zak Brown believes Norris has learned from his mistakes and will race Verstappen differently in 2025, which could mean McLaren and Red Bull will be the main title contenders this year.
