SHOCK F1 team tipped to join 2025 title battle

A shock Formula 1 team has been tipped to enter the 2025 title fight by McLaren team principal Andrea Stella.

McLaren appear to hold the advantage after three days of testing around the Bahrain International Circuit, with their race-simulation runs demonstrating impressive pace.

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These types of runs are often seen as the most representative, with teams undergoing a full race distance with a known fuel load, and it was where on the second day of testing Lando Norris unleashed the true pace of the McLaren.

On average the Brit was more than 0.5 seconds a lap quicker than his rivals, Kimi Antonelli and Charles Leclerc, who were also running their race simulations during the afternoon on day two.

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Stella remains sceptical despite McLaren advantage

However, Stella does not believe McLaren will dominate in 2025, and remains confident they will be battling Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari for the world title.

The Italian also went as far as to suggest McLaren will be joined by two other teams, with Williams entering the discussion in a shock twist, despite their ninth place finish in the constructors’ championship in 2024.

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The team have recently been boosted by the arrival of four-time grand prix winner Carlos Sainz who, alongside Alex Albon, now represents one of the most exciting driver pairings on the F1 grid.

"We've always talked about the top four recently," Stella said to the media during pre-season testing.

"But maybe we need to adapt our language again this year. That would be the top five or top six. There certainly seem to be some fast cars out there."

Stella’s comments were based on Williams' performance on their fast laps, an indicator of qualifying pace, where Sainz set the best time on day two with a 1:29.348s.

"We see that there are some cars that manage very competitive lap times with little fuel on board, that's clear from the data," Stella added.

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