McLaren is not overly concerned about the instability of the rear of the MCL39. Lando Norris cited this as one of his criticisms of the 2025 contender, but according to team boss Andrea Stella, the limitation was partly due to the characteristics of the Bahrain International Circuit. The Italian immediately reveals what McLaren is working on ahead of the opening race in Melbourne.
The test days are over, and the balance of power between the teams for 2025 has become a little clearer. McLaren is currently being assigned the role of favorite, mainly because of the impressive race simulation by Lando Norris during the second test day. The Brit was able to consistently drive in the 1.32s on the C2 tire, and was even five-tenths faster per lap than his rivals in the Ferrari and Mercedes.
However, Norris had a few points of criticism about the MCL39 after his long runs. According to the Brit, his team had ‘more trouble with the rear (of the car) than hoped’. McLaren team boss Andrea Stella, however, is not worried about these points of attention. “I think Lando’s comments about the instability at the rear are honest,” says the Italian, who immediately reassures his driver a bit.”At the same time, if you come to Bahrain, I would be very, very surprised if you don’t have a rear limitation and traction limitation,” the team boss continues. “So in one way or another, these limitations are inherent to the circuit we are driving on.” However, McLaren is still working on improving the stability of the rear.
Zenuwtrekjes: Improving Responsiveness and Stability
Stella also reveals that McLaren is working hard on improving the responsiveness of the front of the car in corners. “It would be incomplete to say that we only want to improve the rear grip in terms of stability when steering in and traction. We also want to improve the car’s behavior in the middle of the corner in terms of the front.”
According to the team boss, McLaren has succeeded in its goal to make the MCL39 ‘more predictable’, although ‘nervous twitches’ in the 2025 model can never be completely remedied. “In reality, it’s just a game of who tempers these limitations, which are inherent to a Formula 1 car and in particular to a Formula 1 car on a circuit with this kind of layout, the most.”
