The season-opening race at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne last weekend saw McLaren and Lando Norris draw first blood. However, it was a close affair, with Max Verstappen finishing less than a second behind the Briton as they crossed the chequered flag.
That said, this could have been owing to the mixed weather conditions. In the dry, the MCL39 seems to have the legs over the RB21.
Red Bull are aware of this and in a bid to curb McLaren’s advantage, they reported the Woking-based outfit’s rear wing to the FIA.
The motorsports governing body cleared the wing, though, after an investigation. This prompted Auto Motor und Sport’s Michael Schmidt to call out the Milton-Keynes-based team.
He wrote, “Red Bull is following the usual pattern in F1. They shoot poison darts at their opponents in the hope of hitting something.”
ℹ️ ️ AMuS:
Red Bull had already approached the FIA about the rear wings during the Formula 1 testing.
However, the FIA technical commissioners were unable to recognise anything suspicious either in the static tests or in the camera recording.
The McLaren rear wing is legal. pic.twitter.com/SvauWwb8YA
— McLaren News | (@McLarenF1_News) March 18, 2025
The Australian GP has always been one that hasn’t reflected the true pecking order, given its unique layout. This time around, the wet weather ensured that this trend continued.
But going into the Chinese GP this weekend, the championship picture could get clearer with the race predicted to be a dry one all throughout the weekend.
Areas of focus for McLaren and Red Bull going into the Chinese GP
Despite having the best package on the grid, McLaren hasn’t nailed the concept with the MCL39. One of the biggest areas of focus for the team is their rear end, which is currently lacking the stability their drivers would like.
Norris explained that it was an encouraging sign that the team had only one major weakness.
On the other hand, it would appear that Red Bull have been able to address many issues apparent on the RB20 with their 2025 challenger. However, the Australian GP exposed a major flaw in their concept that has led to their tires heating more than their rivals.
The RB21 can light up its tires pretty quickly but in the long run, it causes them to overheat severely. Team advisor Helmut Marko has claimed that the team will be working flat out to ensure that they rectify this.
“[At the Australian GP], however, we managed to go like them for a few laps before tire degradation came and slowed us down. This is our main problem, the one we need to work on,” he was quoted as saying.
