George Russell highlighted how Lando Norris had warned that McLaren had “found a lot over the winter” before his ominous-looking run in Formula 1 pre-season testing.
Even prior to the sole test in Bahrain taking place, McLaren’s status as the reigning Constructors’ Champions saw it billed as the team to beat in the upcoming campaign.
But while the MCL38 ended 2024 regarded as the benchmark package, McLaren has made notable changes to its new machine as it pursues a title double this season.
The Woking-based squad’s innovative approach appears to have paid dividends as the consensus in the paddock is that it has retained the upper hand with the MCL39.
That suspicion has derived from a headline race simulation that Norris produced which was over five-tenths quicker on average than his rivals in the Ferrari and Mercedes.
Norris’ impressive race run vindicated the bullish stance he had adopted surrounding McLaren’s prospects, which Russell recalled when discussing his pre-season predictions.
“The wish is that we’re all having a good fight,” Russell, who won two races last season with Mercedes, told media including Motorsport Week.
“A prediction? I think McLaren are going to be pretty strong. Lando said they found a lot over the winter and he’s looking pretty confident.
“We all wish to have a close fight. There’s nothing more you can ask for.”
McLaren remains grounded despite strong test
But although he acknowledged the team’s long-run pace was “encouraging”, McLaren boss Andrea Stella highlighted that the cool conditions in Bahrain were unrepresentative.
“We are testing long runs in conditions which are pretty unique,” Stella told select media including Motorsport Week when asked about Norris’ striking times.
“It’s cold tarmac, cold air temperature, Bahrain is unique itself in terms of the macro roughness, so I think it’s overall good information, obviously, when you go through long runs and race simulations, but every information we get needs to be taken with some care, we need to be careful, because for all the reasons I just said, it’s very particular.
“When we go to the early races of the seasons, the kind of stress on the tyres, the requirement in terms of interaction between the car and the tyres will be completely different.
“So the indications here in Bahrain seem to say the car at the moment interacts well with the tyres, but in a very specific and I would say special regime like we have in these days.”
READ MORE – Why McLaren is unconcerned about the MCL39’s rear-end instability in F1 testing
