Last Updated on March 1 2025, 5:01 pm

There was always going to be a winner and a loser in the Formula One high profile Mercedes/Lewis Hamilton divorce and based on the performance of Ferrari over the closing races of 2024, it appeared the seven times world champion would be on the right side of his decision to leave for Italy.

Yet the data in pre-season testing may be a worrying read for Lewis Hamilton as data analysis shows Ferrari are not where they were towards the end of last year. McLaren are universally accepted as having the quickest car in race trim as well as the most compliant for their drivers.

Whilst the papaya liveried cars didn’t top the time sheets in qualification one lap simulations, their race pace was mighty and put the rest of the field in the shade. Lando Norris will be feeling more confident than ever that this is his year to become F1 drivers champion, although the Red Bull in the hands of Max Verstappen appears to be the closest rival to McLaren.

 

 

 

McLaren ‘the best’ with more to come

Norris had the better F1 car than the world champion for much of last year, but failed to maximise this advantage as his challenge for the top prize dwindled over the closing third of the season. McLaren too were caught napping and not battle hardened when tough choices over team orders were shirked in favour of team harmony.

This year McLaren will need to up their game in this aspect of their organisation as Verstappen will once again dominate his junior team mate of just eleven Grand Prix weekends.

All said and done the test was a success for McLaren in terms of pace, yet the handling of the car at times appeared a little loose. Norris complained he “struggled a bit more with the rear than we would have liked,” although team boss Andreas Stella believes a this is no big disadvantage at a track like Bahrain.

Red Bull did no long run simulations preferring to continuously tinker with setup and aerodynamic analysis. This may well put them in a great position to understand the exact nature of their RB21 car, but what is indisputable is whatever Max Verstappen is given, he will extract the maximum possible on more occasions than not.

Ferrari turned up Hamilton’s engine

 

 

 

Red Bull admit ‘more work to do’

Technical director Pierre Wache confirmed the impressions that Red Bull were not the quickest in testing stating: “I am not as happy as I could be because the car did not respond how we wanted at times, but it is going in the right direction, just maybe the magnitude of the direction was not as big as we expected and it’s something we need to work on”.

The Mercedes F1 team had their best pre-season testing since the introduction of ground effect cars in 2022. George Russell described it as “seamless” and the car in the hands of both drivers looked compliant without the violent bouncing and sliding around of its predecessors.

There were persistent issues with front brakes locking, but this is a fix the team will deliver before round one in Australia. Even more encouraging for Toto Wolff and his engineers is that the Mercedes responded well when the conditions were at their warmest on day 3 and therefore may non longer be merely a cold weather performer.

TJ13 reported following its long run analysis from day 2 that with Kimi Antonelli just 2 seconds slower than Charles Leclerc over 51 laps of race simulations, this probably meant in the hands of the far more experienced George Russell that would translate into a Mercedes lead over Ferrari.

Despite Trump opposition, Hamilton committed

 

 

 

Ferrari behind Mercedes

And so to Ferrari, who TJ13 are ranking the fourth quickest car after the pre-season outings in the middle east. Whilst the team from Italy were never in bother with mechanical issues, but it appears the SF-25 flattered to deceive. The lap times from Hamilton and Leclerc were comparable with Mercedes at times and the car looks pointy and well balanced.

Yet the limitations were obvious in terms of understeer and a loose back end along with more extreme tyre wear than its rivals. Toto Wolff will be secretly smiling whilst lewis Hamilton’s hopes of an eight world title this year look grim.

Williams were the surprise team in Bahrain. They looked to be the best of the rest when all is said and done. Whilst Carlos Sainz comments appeared to be a negative when he said: “I don’t think we’ve done the necessary step to be fighting with the top teams this year,” being ahead of Aston Martin and Alpine will be a stellar result.

Of course Williams may well have been running a higher engine mode than tits main rivals along with lower fuel amounts to give their sponsors some headlines in which to revel. Yet the car looked stable for the most part during the test and the race simulations appeared consistent as well as fast.

Hamilton speaks openly about Cullen

 

 

 

Audi HUGE task ahead

Alpine, Haas and the Racing Bulls were all much of a muchness but another surprise was Aston Martin who appeared to be only better than Sauber. New team boss Andy Cowell attempted to be upbeat stating: “Initial feedback suggests we have made progress with the driveability of the car”.

Yet in terms of pace in both race and qualifying simulations the car was not at the races. The team’s test was repeatedly disrupted and they completed just 306 laps – the only with less running were Red Bull. The team boss admitted the car “could be better” suggesting they had not progressed far enough with their ambitions to make the car more stable but with the relatively lined running no form conclusions can be reached as to their actual ranking in terms of performance.

Sauber again were clearly the worst of the bunch and with the new Audi future less than a year away, there will be concerns in Germany that their F1 adventure will not start well.

Verstappen hopes… “worse than last year”

 

 

 

Sainz explains why Williams were so fast

Williams’ surprise pace in 2025? Carlos Sainz analyses the team’s test performance – Carlos Sainz grabbed the headlines on the second day of pre-season testing for the 2025 Formula One season in Bahrain, setting the fastest lap of the session in his Williams. The Spanish driver, who joined the British team after four seasons with Ferrari, recorded a best time of 1:29.348 minutes, edging out Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari by just 31 thousandths of a second.

Despite the impressive result, Sainz was quick to play down any premature excitement about Williams suddenly becoming a top team. While his lap time put Williams in the spotlight, Sainz remained realistic about the team’s true competitiveness. “I think it’s a bit early for Williams, to be honest,” he admitted. “I don’t think we’ve taken the necessary step to fight with the top teams this year.”

Sainz’s comments were a reminder that pre-season test results can often be misleading. Teams run different programmes with different fuel loads, tyre choices and engine settings, making direct comparisons difficult. While Williams may have looked competitive on the timesheets, Sainz believes that the gap to the front-runners remains considerable…. READ MORE