McLaren Shocks F1: A Lead No One Saw Coming

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

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.