{"id":31294,"date":"2025-03-11T14:15:47","date_gmt":"2025-03-11T18:15:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=31294"},"modified":"2025-03-11T14:25:59","modified_gmt":"2025-03-11T18:25:59","slug":"mclaren-could-be-one-second-faster-than-red-bull-warns-marko","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/03\/11\/mclaren-could-be-one-second-faster-than-red-bull-warns-marko\/","title":{"rendered":"McLaren could be “one second faster” than Red Bull, warns Marko"},"content":{"rendered":"

For large parts of last season, the top four teams were capable of winning races. Although McLaren<\/a> had the fastest overall package, they were consistently under threat from Ferrari, Red Bull<\/a> and Mercedes.<\/p>\n

This has created optimism across the winter break, about a potential title fight in 2025.<\/p>\n

Despite this, teams across the field are weary of McLaren<\/strong>. The MCL39 could have a notable advantage over the rest of the pack – as Helmut Marko explains.<\/p>\n

Why McLaren turned heads in pre-season testing<\/h4>\n

In previous years, ‘sandbagging’ has been a very common buzzword used during pre-season testing.<\/p>\n

This word is typically used to describe teams who conceal their true pace. Mercedes<\/a>, for example, were famous for never showing their cards until round one<\/strong> – even at the height of their dominance.<\/p>\n

Because there are so many teams with realistic prospects of winning races, accusations of ‘sandbagging’ were relatively scarce<\/strong> in testing last month.<\/p>\n

Embed from Getty Images<\/a>