As the defending Constructors’ champions, coming into a new season means managing expectations. Most considered McLaren the favorite in 2025, and their pre-season testing performance suggests that remains the case. Lando Norris looked like the most comfortable driver during those three days in Bahrain, both in qualifying and race simulation runs.
No team looked as fast as McLaren, which should be good news for fans of the Papaya squad. Bad news for others in the community. However, some aren’t ready to read too much into pre-season testing times, simply because of the extreme conditions in which it took place.
The weather in Bahrain this year was much cooler than it normally is at this time. Even Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur admitted the same. “Hard to get a clear read on the overall situation,” the Frenchman opined.
Now, F1 expert Ian Parkes has also revealed that it would be premature to label McLaren as the clear favorite.
“I wouldn’t go that far, saying it’s McLaren’s to lose,” Parkes said on the RN365 podcast. “Yes, they did have really solid three days, but the conditions were so anomalous. I mean they were cold, once the sun started to dip it was chilly“.
At the same time, there’s always the chance that other teams were hiding their true potential—a very common practice in testing.
Sit back and enjoy the fastest lap of the first day of testing (and the MCL39)pic.twitter.com/lJk2QNCmQV
— McLaren News | (@McLarenF1_News) February 26, 2025
So, a clearer picture will emerge once the season gets underway in 10 days in Australia. That’s where McLaren’s real test begins. If they perform well in Australia, Japan, China, and then Bahrain again, Parkes will finally label them as favorites.
How other teams fared in Bahrain’s cold
One team that looked particularly impressive in Sakhir was Mercedes. However, since their cars have traditionally performed better in cooler conditions over the last few years, they are likely working with a large set of unreliable data. The W16 was fast, but it may not be as quick when they race in the comparatively warmer conditions of Albert Park.
That said, both George Russell and Kimi Antonelli were pleased with the car’s balance. Russell even went so far as to say that the W16 was the best car he has driven in F1, suggesting that the Silver Arrows could also challenge McLaren this year.
Even Ferrari looked good in testing. Lewis Hamilton, coming off the back of a difficult season at Mercedes, felt particularly good. “I would say this is the most positive feeling that I’ve had in a long time,” he said.
While Charles Leclerc stated that it was too early to judge their pace, he also revealed that Ferrari faced no major concerns during testing, suggesting they are likely to be McLaren’s closest challengers.
Red Bull, however, seems to be in trouble. Their slump in mid-2024 has seemingly carried over to this year with Red Bull’s new technical director stating, “I am not as happy as I could be because the car did not respond as we wanted at certain moments.”
It’s still early days, but the firm contenders look to be McLaren and Ferrari, with Mercedes closest to the two.
