There’s something slightly different about Formula 1 pre-season testing this year. And I think it’s something to do with a change in mindset.
On one hand, teams are already shifting their focus to 2026 and the massive challenge presented by the new regulations — a challenge that Red Bull team principal Christian Horner somewhat hyperbolically described as “probably the biggest change Formula 1’s had in 50 years where both chassis regs and engine regs are changing coterminously.”
You’re not alone if you need to know that coterminously means at the same time as something else, but you’re also not alone in thinking similar comments were made for the 2014 power units and the 2022 ground effect cars. But whether Horner is right or not on the size of that task ahead, it is certainly one that will be receiving plenty of attention from technical departments already.
It’s not that switch of focus that is the mindset I’m talking about at the test, though. That’s to do with how the grid expects 2025 to play out on track.
All of the talk over the winter has been about how we could be set for a classic season, and it’s hard to argue with the logic. Last year ended with four teams winning multiple races — all taking one-two finishes in that time as well — and with extremely tight margins between both that quartet and the remaining six.
Convergence typically happens the later into a set of regulations F1 gets, and heading into the final season of these rules would point to things getting even closer among the field. So arriving in Bahrain, it’s not in hope that teams are completing mileage, it’s in expectation.
Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing looked to be in good shape again as pre-season testing opened, but so did its anticipated competitors. Peter Fox/Getty Images
A year ago, McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes were all hoping to catch Red Bull, and were all sorely disappointed at the start of the season. This time around, they all expect to be winning races and part of a title fight that might even include others.
“I think it’s going to be remarkably close, the entire field,” McLaren team principal Zak Brown said on Wednesday. “I mean, if you look at Abu Dhabi and the lap time that separated all 10 teams, I think it’s going to just continue to converge.
“So I don’t think there’s a clear favorite. I would expect at least four teams to win races, eight drivers. I wouldn’t be surprised to see someone else get in on the mix, if not on a regular basis, certainly on a race-by-race basis.”
While there might have been an element of deflection from Brown as he looks to keep the pressure off McLaren, his team certainly wasn’t feeling any such weight. One team member admitted barely checking how the car was doing in the opening few hours of the day, but it certainly wasn’t due to arrogance.
It’s because cars have become so reliable, and the majority of them this season are so evolutionary compared to last year, that it was expected (there’s that word again) that they would just roll out of the pit lane when the green light came on and continue to run until the checkered flag came out.
And that’s largely what happened.
Haas went and completed 160 laps, Racing Bulls 155, and Mercedes, Ferrari, Alpine, Red Bull and Williams all exceeded 130, too. The only concern on mileage was perhaps at Aston Martin — with just 88 laps — but aside from the lunchtime driver change that all teams did, the bizarre power outage also could be deemed to have had an impact if it was poorly timed.
The gap between Oscar Piastri and his pace-setting McLaren teammate was noticeable…but also illustrative of how apparent pecking orders in testing can be deceiving. Clive Mason/Getty Images
McLaren’s tally was relatively low compared to its rivals, but the early pace was certainly there given Lando Norris topped the times, and the car itself looked particularly strong on turn-in at the tricky Turn 11. Oscar Piastri was far down on the timing screens but looked comfortable carrying a lot of speed into that corner, despite largely focusing on aero testing.
The old adage that you should never read too much into lap times in testing should always be heeded, but the opening day can be summed up in pretty simple terms. Everyone expects it to be ridiculously close and competitive this season, and after the first day on track together, those expectations have not had any major doubts thrown on them.
