Andrea Stella Exposes Chink in McLaren’s Armor to Downplay Lando Norris’ Early Signs of Brilliance

Two and a half days of pre-season testing have concluded and McLaren seem to have started where they left off last season. Lando Norris lit up the timesheets on the first day of testing in Bahrain and since then has shown great pace even in his long runs on day two, suggesting he and McLaren could be the ones to beat this season.

And perhaps what is more important than his times is that Norris feels happy in the MCL39.

“I think we’ve learned a lot from that, and getting the experience of doing the full race run was very valuable,” the Briton said after the second day of pre-season testing. “Good feelings so far, we’ve now got one more day to go to make sure we end the week strongly”.

However, all is not rosy for Norris and McLaren. Team principal Andrea Stella has revealed that the only reason Norris has looked strong so far is that the conditions in Bahrain suit their car.

“In terms of the long-run pace, I would be careful because the conditions were what our car enjoys — cold and not much challenge coming from the wind. We were in a sweet spot,” the Italian said per Sky Sports.

This is actually an unexpected positive for the Woking-based outfit, as they have often struggled in Bahrain previously. In fact, the 2023 Bahrain GP saw Norris pit six times due to a pneumatic pressure issue, while Oscar Piastri had to retire from what was his debut race.

Back then, McLaren were in the doldrums in terms of their car performance, with the 2023 challenger not having all the upgraded concepts when that season started. But in the second half of the year, they bounced back strongly to start contending for podiums and eventually won the Constructors’ title last year.

Gunning to secure both championships in 2025, McLaren seem to have the fastest package again. Yet, Stella has flagged that they could work with more ‘rear grip’ on the MCL39. With the first race of the season in Australia — March 14 to 16 — still a couple of weeks away, McLaren have plenty of time to iron out this issue.

How have McLaren’s rivals so far fared in pre-season testing?

With Ferrari ending up as McLaren’s closest challengers for the Constructors’ title last season, many experts claimed that this season the two teams could fight it out again for the championship. Ferrari did not have the best of days in testing on Wednesday, but seemed strong on day two, suggesting that the pre-season predictions of most could turn out to be true.

Other than setting the second and third-fastest lap times on Thursday, both Ferrari drivers also showcased some impressive long-run pace. Expert Alex Brundle revealed that both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were just a tenth slower than McLaren’s long-run pace.

Coming to Red Bull, Lawrence Barretto revealed that it is difficult to judge their pace since the team is “trying to play their cards closer to their chests”. However, based on the feedback that both Max Verstappen and Liam Lawson provided, they seem to be happy with the handling of the RB21 at least even though they still were not sure about the pace.

Meanwhile, the team that can perhaps produce the biggest positive surprise this season is Mercedes. The Race reported that George Russell was delighted with the W16’s handling, stating that it was the best car he had ever driven around Bahrain. Similarly, Kimi Antonelli was also happy with the car’s balance, suggesting that their struggles during the ground-effect era are now a thing of the past.

So, while pre-season testing so far suggests that McLaren have the strongest package, the results need to be taken with a pinch of salt. After all, this is the time when most teams sandbag and do not unveil their true potential. Moreover, with teams running different run plans and fuel loads, it is always difficult to make accurate predictions about their pace.