McLaren impressed with strong long runs in Bahrain testing, but team boss Andrea Stella remains cautious, acknowledging fierce competition over a single lap.
Andrea Stella, McLaren F1’s team principal, confirmed that the team was positively surprised by its long runs during testing in Bahrain. However, he prefers to remain cautious, acknowledging that the competition could also be strong, particularly in outright pace.
“Each team will always analyze the information it has in comparison to its rivals,” Stella stated. “But for me, the main objective—both personally and for the team—is to review the data and compare it with our expectations, both in terms of performance and car behavior.”
“This applies aerodynamically; we have several mechanical tests as well. We’ve introduced innovative changes to the car’s setup, and we wanted to ensure that it behaves as expected.”
“It’s clear that we’ve discussed not getting distracted by what we see from our competitors. The long-run pace looks encouraging. At the same time, we see that with low fuel, several cars can produce very competitive lap times, and I believe they are genuinely competitive in absolute terms.”
Stella is pleased that McLaren has joined the top three teams as a fourth contender but remains wary of others potentially entering the fight this season. “Before coming here, I was thinking that in the past, we used to talk about the top three. Then, fortunately, McLaren joined the mix, and now we have a top four.”
“But perhaps this year, we will need to adjust our terminology again, which would be great for Formula 1—maybe a top five or even a top six. We’ll see. In any case, there seem to be a few fast cars.”
However, the long-run program was not about chasing performance but rather about confirming that the MCL39 is bringing the tires into the right operating window. “I think in terms of tire choices, our long run was aimed at testing all three compounds and evaluating their behavior.”
“And I think everyone, even by adjusting the order, had the same objective—to determine the best compounds for the race, given that Pirelli has altered the composition compared to last year, and they appear to be different.”
“At the same time, we are testing long runs in fairly unique conditions. The tarmac is cold, the air temperature is low. Bahrain is unique in terms of abrasiveness, so while this provides valuable data, especially for long runs and race simulations, all the information we gather must be interpreted with caution.”
“We need to be careful because, for all the reasons I just mentioned, the conditions here are very specific. When we move into the first races of the season, the type of pressure applied to the tires and the interaction between the car and the tires will be entirely different.”
The initial conclusions regarding tire interaction appear positive: “The indications here in Bahrain suggest that the car is currently interacting well with the tires, but in a very specific and particular operating window, as seen during these test days.”
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Encouraging Pace, Yet Stella Keeps McLaren Grounded Encouraging Pace, Yet Stella Keeps McLaren Grounded Encouraging Pace, Yet Stella Keeps McLaren Grounded
