F1 2025 pre-season testing: McLaren impressive and Lewis Hamilton positive
At Bahrain’s Sahir Raceway, McLaren’s sense of being ahead of the competitor is built on some eye-catching speeds of the race-simulated run.
These are always the most reliable indicators of true competitiveness in the test, as key variables are removed. The team’s Grand Prix distance is all-champion, so even other settings, such as engine mode, may not be comparable to the car.
On the afternoon of the second day of the test, McLaren’s Lando Norris performed a match simulation simultaneously with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli. The British speed is breathtaking.
He could have won the “match” for more than 30 seconds and averaged 0.5 seconds faster than his competitors.
Leclerc will lead Antonelli for about two seconds.
On the last afternoon, Norris’ teammates Oscar Piastri and Mercedes’ George Russell were doing the same.
Again, McLaren is faster, though not that much. Piastri is 0.2 seconds faster than Russell on average. This means winning in just 10 seconds.
However, Piastri’s advantage gained almost all of the advantages in the first lead, with him 0.5 seconds faster than Russell. In the second and third terms, McLaren has only 0.05 seconds in its advantage.
Putting the era of Norris, Leclec and Antony with the era of Piastri, Russell makes no sense from day to day because Thursday is cooler and less graceful than Friday.
F1 cars are faster in cooler conditions, as higher air density increases force and engine performance, and wind is bad news for the car’s sensitive aerodynamics.
McLaren is on a lap and isn’t that great – but it’s hard to say that in the test. For its value, McLaren seems to be getting along very smoothly with Ferrari, Verstappen-powered Red Bull and Mercedes’ Ferrari.
McLaren is eager to downplay any claim they lead.
Team principal Andrea Stella said he would “will be very cautious” to draw conclusions from Norris’ run, which shows that Bahrain’s usually cool conditions are the best places for our cars – they are the ones that our cars enjoy, cool, and not much windy conditions. ”
Stella’s point is that some of the weaknesses McLaren encountered in Bahrain in recent years may have masked this weakness – the track is mainly a combination of slow corners and a traction-led layout that is not good at the advantages of cars, especially in the heat typically found in the desert.
But there is another way to look at this. If McLaren could be so fast on circuits that don’t fit their own cars, how much do they perform in Melbourne, on paper, how much is it their track?
McLaren excels at the typical medium speed angle and low-humidity surfaces at Albert Park, and at Albert Park, front-end performance is the main limitation of F1 cars, not in the rear like Bahrain.
Norris sat in a press conference with Verstappen and Leclerc and said: “If we want to improve anything right now, it’s the rear, but the rest feels right and feels in the same ball park.
“I don’t think we’re expecting a big step ahead of everyone. We want to be close to my rights. If we get from there, that’s the main thing.”
