Who’s going to be the fastest team of 2025? A very tough question to answer as we’re weeks away from even getting a glimpse of the cars in action and a reading of their realistic performance benchmark.
However, if reports from Italian website Autoracer are to be believed, it could very well be McLaren, who have reportedly found significant improvement in their already strong mechanical package, which helped them win the Constructors’ title last year.
McLaren was always going to be one of the favorites for the 2025 title. And on Thursday, without a warning, they unveiled the MCL39 at Silverstone sporting a camo-livery. This came just days before the official launch of their car livery which is set to take place on Tuesday, February 18 at the F1 75 event in London.
2024’s MCL38 was good enough to win the championship, but McLaren’s new challenger, which appears completely overhauled, has reportedly made them much more efficient. But how?
Pictures from the Silverstone session showed visible modifications to the MCL39. “We were very careful in thinking about the 2025 car because the MCL38 was already a competitive car. Therefore, we had to carefully consider how far we wanted to go with innovation,” team Principal Andrea Stella said.
| McLaren are understood to have gained approximately half a second with the MCL39.
Details below:https://t.co/qC0kO6j5F4
— formularacers (@formularacers_) February 17, 2025
The changes were admittedly not massive, but ambitious, as Stella admitted. And according to the Italian, it will make McLaren around 0.5 seconds faster. “In the end, we decided to take a relatively ambitious approach to make significant progress,” he added.
Can this help McLaren win the Championship?
Another very tough question to answer. But on paper, this does mean that McLaren should have an advantage over its other rivals like Ferrari who are set to make strides.
As Stella said, McLaren were already fast. Now, if they are half a second faster, it will most certainly keep them at the sharp end of the grid ahead of their previous challengers Ferrari and Red Bull.
Note that this is also the last season under the current regulations which means that no team will put in too much effort to better their performances. Achieving success in 2026 with a brand-new car concept will be the aim of many.
This makes McLaren the favorite to win the Constructors’ title once again. And for Lando Norris, the pressure is on because the expectation is that he will bring the Drivers’ title to Woking as well.
If McLaren do have a five-tenths advantage, Norris can easily secure his maiden crown. But looking at his inconsistent and underwhelming form against Verstappen last season, it may not be a cakewalk.
