Before the Formula 1 pre-season testing kicked off in Bahrain, McLaren’s Lando Norris dropped a hint about his team’s formidable speed. This revelation was recalled by George Russell, who emphasized Norris’ assertion that McLaren had made significant strides during the winter.
McLaren, having reigned supreme as the Constructors’ Champions, was already earmarked as the squad to watch out for in the forthcoming season. Despite its MCL38 being touted as the gold standard in 2024, the team didn’t rest on its laurels. It turned its attention to refining and revamping its new machine, with an ambition to secure a back-to-back title win this year.
The innovative approach adopted by the Woking-based team appears to have borne fruit. The paddock consensus suggests that McLaren has managed to keep its lead, particularly with its latest offering, the MCL39.
This conjecture is supported by the standout race simulation conducted by Norris. He clocked in a time over half a second quicker on average than his competitors from Ferrari and Mercedes. This stellar performance underscored Norris’ bullish optimism about McLaren’s potential, a sentiment echoed by Russell in his pre-season forecast.
Russell, who celebrated two victories last season with Mercedes, shared his thoughts with the media, including Motorsport Week. He stated, “We all hope for a close fight. What more could we ask for? As for predictions, I believe McLaren will be a force to reckon with. Lando mentioned they made significant progress over the winter. He seems quite confident.”
Despite the promising signs, McLaren remains grounded. While its long-run pace is touted as “encouraging”, McLaren’s chief Andrea Stella underlined the singular conditions in Bahrain as uncharacteristic. He explained to select media outlets, including Motorsport Week, that the testing was conducted on cold tarmac and in cold air temperatures, unique to Bahrain.
Stella cautioned that while the data collected from long runs and race simulations were valuable, they needed to be interpreted carefully due to the unique testing circumstances. He pointed out that the early season races would place different demands on the tyres and the car-tyre interaction would be entirely different.
He concluded, “The indications here in Bahrain seem to suggest that the car currently interacts well with the tyres, but under very specific conditions. We need to be careful not to read too much into these results.”
Thus, while McLaren’s impressive pre-season performance has set tongues wagging, the team is mindful that the real test will come when the season kicks off under varied conditions and tracks.