McLaren made a strong statement on the second day of testing, with an incredible race pace simulation from Lando Norris.
The second day of Formula 1 testing concluded with Carlos Sainz taking the top spot, ahead of Lewis Hamilton‘s Ferrari, a little “sliding doors” moment in the wet desert of Bahrain. In pre-season phases, standings don’t matter much, but race pace simulations are key, and McLaren showed its strength in this crucial area.
The Papaya Team, in the afternoon session, literally silenced the competition with Lando Norris, who completed an entire Bahrain Grand Prix lap significantly faster than Max Verstappen did in the 2024 edition. This was a strong and clear message from the British team, with the mechanics only offering a few pats on the back.
We are still at the dawn of an eagerly awaited and balanced World Championship, but the first blow delivered by the reigning world champions was definitely felt. It’s worth noting that, at the moment, the work and mapping of the various teams are mostly unknown, or nearly so, making predictions quite difficult. According to some insiders, the lower temperatures helped Lando Norris’ drumming pace, along with the removal of all the data-gathering tools during the long-run phase.
Norris himself, at the end of the day, commented with these words: “Nothing special was done. Let’s just say nothing really changed compared to what we were trying to do: we were just trying to make the car faster and add more downforce. It’s a simple way of looking at it, honestly. We still want to focus on some areas more than others. Yesterday and today, we struggled a bit more with the rear end than we would have liked. But it’s still early. We’re not evaluating absolute performance right now.”
“If we had to face qualifying now, I’m sure we would change a few things. But yesterday and today we managed to cover all the boxes, even though it may not be the most fun part. We expect to be on par with the other top teams, but if we’re there fighting from the start, we’ll have achieved our goal. Considering how the last few years have gone, if we can fight from the beginning, we’ll be happy.”
Photo: X F1
