Following the initial free practice sessions, McLaren’s team is looking forward to the upcoming Australian Grand Prix with confidence. Drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri consistently ranked in the top four in both sessions, with the former recording the fastest time in FP1. According to team principal Andrea Stella, everything is going according to plan for the papayas, who remain the favourites leading up to the season opener.
“Relatively smooth sessions today, without major issues,” Andrea Stella concluded after the opening day on Friday. According to the competition, McLaren is the clear favourite to win the Australian Grand Prix. Red Bull’s top advisor, Helmut Marko, anticipates a thrilling battle between Red Bull, Ferrari, and Mercedes, but sees McLaren as the team to beat for now.
MCL39 Proves Predictable
Stella indicated that the team used the first practice sessions to analyse how the MCL39 performs on a new circuit. “We were able to execute our test plans well,” said the Italian. “We were able to control the car’s behaviour – after all, this is a completely different circuit than Bahrain. So far, it’s behaving as expected, which is good news.” However, Friday was not entirely perfect for the Woking-based team. In the second free practice session, Norris and Piastri failed to set a fast lap. At least, not fast enough to beat Charles Leclerc’s time.
“Based on what we’ve seen today, we still have some work to do in terms of optimization, but overall, it was positive,” Stella explained. Despite McLaren’s strong starting position, the margins remain incredibly small. Therefore, the team boss still anticipates a challenging season. “These initial sessions have confirmed that the field may be even closer together than last year,” he concluded. “From a competitive standpoint, we are therefore looking forward to an interesting Formula 1 season.”
