McLaren almost started the 2025 Formula 1 season in the perfect way with their two drivers leading the way for much of the Australian Grand Prix.
Lando Norris went on to win the Australian Grand Prix but it wasn’t his teammate Oscar Piastri that ended up following him home.
A mistake in changeable conditions meant Piastri had to battle back to P9 after being stranded on the grass just before the pit lane and Max Verstappen put Norris under heavy pressure in the final stages of the race.
However, the consensus since testing is that McLaren have the fastest car on the grid and qualifying in Australia certainly proved that.
Verstappen was nearly four-tenths slower than Norris over one lap and new Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton was almost a second behind his fellow Brit.
McLaren will know they face a very long season and as Red Bull proved last year, dominating the opening races is so guarantee of success.
However, they may have already identified one issue that could end up derailing them in the future if it isn’t addressed immediately.
READ MORE: All you need to know about McLaren F1 Team from team principal to engine
McLaren have ‘a bit of concern’ about how wind-sensitive their 2025 F1 car is
Mark Hughes and Edd Straw were discussing the first Grand Prix of 2025 on The Race F1 Podcast.
Hughes was asked about McLaren’s dominance in Australia and explained: “It had probably a bigger advantage here than it showed in testing in Bahrain.
“And Lando was talking about that, actually. He was saying that this is a circuit where he feels it was shown in a good light and he expects China to be similar.
“And he’s not optimistic about Bahrain. So it’s quite interesting that even though they consider that one of their weaker circuits, it looked [like] the quickest car there, albeit not by as much as it looked the quickest here.”
Straw added to Hughes’ point: “Yeah, there’s a bit of concern about the car being a bit wind sensitive, potentially.
“Although I think some of it might just be the McLaren never, ever, ever wins in Bahrain, does it?”
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Lando Norris proved in Australia that McLaren’s worries about their 2025 car are unfounded
It’s unlikely that drivers will face tougher conditions than what they were presented with in Melbourne on Sunday.
Isack Hadjar was caught out on the formation lap and only 14 drivers reached the chequered flag without any reliability problems.
However, as well as the rain that made the track very slippery, it was clear that it was also incredibly windy during the race.
Although Norris and Piastri both went off the track in the final sector when the weather changed, if the car was wind-sensitive, they dealt with it very well.
DISASTER FOR MCLAREN AND OSCAR PIASTRI!
The rain hits and both papaya cars spin off the track, but Oscar finds himself stuck on the grass 🌀 pic.twitter.com/bnX9KG6OtB
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) March 16, 2025
It means that their dominance is even more ominous if they arrive at the Chinese Grand Prix and the weather is calm.
The FIA’s new rear wing directive is far more interesting in terms of the impact it could have on McLaren’s car.
Red Bull got the FIA to investigate McLaren and Ferrari’s cars after pre-season testing and will be keeping a very close eye on the flex in their slot gaps.
