For large parts of last season, the top four teams were capable of winning races. Although McLaren had the fastest overall package, they were consistently under threat from Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes.
This has created optimism across the winter break, about a potential title fight in 2025.
Despite this, teams across the field are weary of McLaren. The MCL39 could have a notable advantage over the rest of the pack – as Helmut Marko explains.
Why McLaren turned heads in pre-season testing
In previous years, ‘sandbagging’ has been a very common buzzword used during pre-season testing.
This word is typically used to describe teams who conceal their true pace. Mercedes, for example, were famous for never showing their cards until round one – even at the height of their dominance.
Because there are so many teams with realistic prospects of winning races, accusations of ‘sandbagging’ were relatively scarce in testing last month.
Making predictions in pre-season is hard enough, but calculating fuel loads and engine modes in the context of last year’s grid is an almost impossible task.
Still, this does not mean teams are oblivious to who are looking strongest.
McLaren ran a very specific testing programme with the MCL39, testing a rage of different components.
Unlike others, who had bigger questions to answer in Bahrain, Andrea Stella’s team were focused on the minute details – a sign of confidence in their overall package.
McLaren were very competitive in their race simulations, whilst also suffering very little tyre degradation.
In conjunction with onboard footage and feedback from the drivers, there is a sense that McLaren had a tremendously exciting winter.
Marko: McLaren did not show their true performance
Fans are not the only ones who try and understand the pecking order before the season officially teams.
Across the paddock, engineers are always keeping an eye on rivals. Both the new components brought to track and the lap times set are scrutinised to get an idea of how things stand.
Red Bull are one of those to suggest that McLaren will have the fastest car this weekend in Australia.
According to Helmut Marko, the papaya squad were sandbagging quite significantly in pre-season:
“In the short runs, they didn’t show that [their true pace],” he told ServusTV.
“They drove out – [completed] sector one, best time. Sector two, boom – and then they returned to pits.
“So they tried to conceal their true potential. They were still not at the front in the top speed measurements.
“This again suggests that they did not drive with full engine power.
“So if this is the result in Australia, then it is clearly first and second [for McLaren].”
Marko even suggested that McLaren’s advantage could be “half to one second faster” than the RB21.
It goes without saying that all teams – albeit to varying degrees – would not have shown their maximum pace in Bahrain.
Even those who ran lower fuel runs, such as Williams, will certainly have an extra gear when qualifying begins this week.
Still, McLaren’s ambitious target heading into 2025 – to establish a significant advantage – could yet be realised.
For all the competitiveness of last year, there are definitive whispers that Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri’s MCL39 is the best machinery in F1.
