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McLaren Leads Bahrain Testing as Ferrari Closes Gap, Red Bull Faces Challenges

Posted : 03 March 2025

McLaren emerged as the dominant team in pre-season testing at Bahrain, with Ferrari appearing to be their closest challenger and Williams showing notable improvement. Mercedes, now featuring rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli alongside George Russell, completed the most laps and appeared stable, while Red Bull, last year's third-place team, had a more difficult time assessing their performance.

 

Despite concerns, Red Bull technical director Pierre Wache emphasized that the team was moving in the right direction but needed further refinements ahead of the season opener in Melbourne on March 16.

 

Formula One data indicated that McLaren had the fastest car in both low-fuel and race-pace simulations, with Ferrari following closely behind. Red Bull ranked third, while Mercedes settled in fourth, though George Russell posted the fastest lap on the final day.

 

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri expressed confidence in McLaren’s balance and speed, with Piastri highlighting the car's reliability. However, speculation arose that McLaren may have been ‘sandbagging’—deliberately underplaying their true pace to keep rivals uncertain.

 

Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton seemed comfortable with his new car but had to cut short his final session due to telemetry issues. Meanwhile, Williams, which finished ninth in the 2023 standings, impressed by recording the fastest lap of testing courtesy of Carlos Sainz, who also clocked more laps than McLaren and Ferrari.

 

Despite this, Sainz downplayed the team's progress, suggesting that they were still far from competing with the frontrunners. Questions also remained over Aston Martin’s competitiveness, as they struggled to match the top teams’ pace.

 

At the lower end of the grid, Sauber, the team set to become Audi’s works outfit in the future, showed no signs of making significant progress. With just weeks to go before the season opener, McLaren's strong testing performance has positioned them as early favorites, while Red Bull faces a crucial period of development to regain their past dominance.

 

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