I would be very surprised if anyone can challenge the McLaren on a mixed corner, medium speed circuit like this. And last year Verstappen in Qualifying was beaten by a Haas.
Yep...that track is like painted for McLaren. As mentioned by another poster...without dumbass by McL, there will not be anything to see but a glory run of the mighty MCL39.
The question is, is the McLaren fast enough to outrun their poor strategy?
I fear they are fast enough to outrun even being last after the start....
But this is a good point: Is there any chance to screw up the strategy?
Last year it was a clear 1 stop. Any change on this or again 1 stop nothing else?
Last year anyone stopping after lap 13 was going to the end on this tire. Do we expect similar durability? That would also remove all chances to screw up with a SC as you can always take the free stop.
Compared to last year, car characteristics have changed - for example, McLaren was not the market leader in high speed (Redbull was) , Redbull was poor in slow corners, Mercedes was good only with low track temps - all of which has changed this year. Plus, they have all improved their cars, especially Mclaren, who have turned a great car from 2024 into a mega-monster in 2025. The McL39 has no weakness, NIL. It's not 2nd best in any corner type, and even in straightline speed (the only reason they are not topping Vmax numbers is because they are choosing to do so, by adding bigger wings than others) - we saw in LasVegas how they did not have a Vmax deficiency at all, when they chose to run a lowDF wing like Ferrari/Mercedes.
Hence, any track, any temp, any condition, the McL39 is a definite contender for pole and win. Not because 'they did well last year' - it's because they have made a car that can be the very best on any track for this year.
