The excellent McLaren tire wear seen in Australia has raised some doubts in the paddock: Christian Horner and Toto Wolff have discussed it.
McLaren’s dominance in the Australian GP also came down to tire performance. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri appeared comfortable at all stages of tire life and on every compound, consistently setting strong lap times without suffering significant degradation. This allowed them to pull away from their rivals, who, on the other hand, struggled with tire wear. Unsurprisingly, this has raised some questions in the paddock.
The first to raise concerns was Red Bull team principal Christian Horner. His top driver, Max Verstappen, initially tried to keep up with the two McLarens in the early stages of the race, but tire degradation issues on the intermediates caused him to lose touch with Norris and Piastri.
Up until lap 17, the Dutch driver had managed to position himself between the two McLarens, holding a strong second place. However, after a brief off-track excursion, he rejoined behind Piastri and lost 14 seconds in just 10 laps—an enormous gap.
The various safety cars and Piastri’s mistake allowed Verstappen to climb back to second place. In the final stages, with the advantage of a fresher tire compound, he attempted to challenge Norris for the win but ultimately fell short. Despite securing a second place that likely seemed out of reach before the race, Red Bull is aware that the gap to McLaren is wider than the final results suggest.
“The McLaren is a well-balanced car, while we were a bit too hard on the tires, especially in the final sector,” Horner explained to Motorsport Week. He then focused on McLaren’s unusual strength—its ability to bring the tires up to temperature almost immediately without suffering significant degradation. “Usually, one of these factors comes at the expense of the other, but on this circuit, they seemed to have found the key. Their car is very gentle on the tires.” .
Toto Wolff, Mercedes team principal, also echoed his colleague’s remarks. “They just go, and it’s impossible to keep up with them—they’re simply too strong in tire management. Usually, you push to the limit and can hold on for a lap or two. If you go out of the operating window, you overheat the tires. But they have such a wide window that they can push as if there were no tomorrow.” .
Even McLaren and Andrea Stella have spoken about the strengths of the MCL39. “The gap we built before the safety cars showed that the car is competitive but also gentle on the tires. It has met all the goals we set for ourselves over the winter,” said Andrea Stella. , that’s what we read in McLaren’s post-race statement.
Photo: F1, McLaren
