McLaren’s Surprise Pace: Game-Changer for 2025? in Australia, surprising even team principal Andrea Stella.

McLaren F1: A Greater Lead Than Expected

18/03/2025

McLaren’s unexpected dominance in Australia raises big questions. Is this just a one-off, or have they truly changed the 2024 F1 landscape?

McLaren F1 delivered a strong performance in Australia, surprising even team principal Andrea Stella.

Lando Norris secured pole position before taking victory in a race affected by changing weather conditions in Melbourne. His teammate, Oscar Piastri, was on track for a one-two finish but dropped to ninth due to a late rain shower. Despite this, the pace of the MCL39 was impressive.

Although Norris crossed the line just eight-tenths ahead of Max Verstappen, this was largely due to floor damage. Before that, McLaren had clearly dominated, with more than three-tenths of a second in hand during qualifying and significantly better tyre management during the race.

Even Red Bull boss Christian Horner found McLaren’s minimal tyre wear “strange.” Stella, however, credited the team’s work:

“We made ambitious choices for the 2024 car, especially after the Miami upgrade. We aimed to improve aerodynamics but also mechanical performance and tyre interaction. Today, we can see the car handles tyres exceptionally well.”

Stella acknowledged that while this performance was expected, the gap to their rivals was somewhat surprising:

“We knew the car was strong, but we didn’t necessarily anticipate such an advantage. It’s a good surprise.”

Despite this strong showing, Stella remains cautious, waiting for upcoming races on more traditional circuits to confirm the trend.

“We’ll get a clearer picture of the pecking order in the next rounds. In Australia, Ferrari wasn’t really at their full potential. In China, we expect them to be much stronger.”

McLaren has certainly made an impact, but the season is long. Whether they can maintain this advantage against Red Bull, Ferrari, and Mercedes remains to be seen.

McLaren Shocks F1: A Lead No One Saw Coming

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Race Center
China Flag
Chinese GP
21 Mar 2025 - 23 Mar 2025
Free Practice 1
21 MAR 03:30 - 04:30
Sprint Qual
21 MAR 07:30 - 08:14
Sprint Race
22 MAR 03:00 - 04:00
Qualifying
22 MAR 07:00 - 08:00
Race
23 MAR 07:00 - 09:00

2025 F1 Australian Grand Prix - Race Results

Lando Norris
1
LANDO
NORRIS
57
Max Verstappen
2
MAX
VERSTAPPEN
+0.895s
George Russell
3
GEORGE
RUSSELL
+8.481s
Alex Albon
4
ALEX
ALBON
+12.773s
Kimi Antonelli
5
KIMI
ANTONELLI
+15.135s
Lance Stroll
6
LANCE
STROLL
+17.413s
Nico Hulkenberg
7
NICO
HULKENBERG
+18.423s
Charles Leclerc
8
CHARLES
LECLERC
+19.826s
Oscar Piastri
9
OSCAR
PIASTRI
+20.448s
Lewis Hamilton
10
LEWIS
HAMILTON
+22.473s
Pierre Gasly
11
PIERRE
GASLY
+26.502s
Yuki Tsunoda
12
YUKI
TSUNODA
+29.884s
Esteban Ocon
13
ESTEBAN
OCON
+33.161s
Oliver Bearman
14
OLIVER
BEARMAN
+40.351s
Liam Lawson
15
LIAM
LAWSON
47 DNF
Gabriel Bortoleto
16
GABRIEL
BORTOLETO
47 DNF
Fernando Alonso
17
FERNANDO
ALONSO
34 DNF
Carlos Sainz
18
CARLOS
SAINZ
0 DNF
Jack Doohan
19
JACK
DOOHAN
0 DNF
Isack Hadjar
20
ISACK
HADJAR
0 DNF
F1 CALENDAR 2025
Race
Date
Chinese Flag
Chinese
Shanghai International
23 Mar
Japanese Flag
Japanese
Suzuka Circuit
6 Apr
Bahrain Flag
Bahrain
Sakhir desert
13 Apr
Saudi Arabia Flag
Saudi Arabia
Jeddah Street
20 Apr
United States Flag
United States
Miami
04 May

2025 FORMULA 1 DRIVERS' WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

Lando Norris
1
LANDO
NORRIS
25 Points
Max Verstappen
2
MAX
VERSTAPPEN
18
George Russell
3
GEORGE
RUSSELL
15
Alex Albon
4
ALEX
ALBON
12
Kimi Antonelli
5
KIMI
ANTONELLI
10
Lance Stroll
6
LANCE
STROLL
8
Nico Hulkenberg
7
NICO
HULKENBERG
6
Charles Leclerc
8
CHARLES
LECLERC
4
Oscar Piastri
9
OSCAR
PIASTRI
2
Lewis Hamilton
10
LEWIS
HAMILTON
1

2025 FORMULA 1 CONSTRUCTORS' WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

1
McLaren
27
2
Mercedes
25
3
Red Bull
18
4
Williams
12
5
Aston Martin
8
6
Sauber
6
7
Ferrari
5
8
Alpine F1
0
9
Haas F1
0
10
Racing Bulls
0
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