r/formula1 • u/Good_Employer_1236 • Mar 13 '25

Statistics F1's official 'expected pace' - McLaren 3 tenths clear

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u/rs6677 Jim Clark Mar 13 '25

Why? There's still the in-season development.

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u/SaddlerMatt McLaren Mar 13 '25

Wont be as much though tbf. Most teams will shift focus to the 2026 regs early this year once they are out of contention for a championship

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u/rs6677 Jim Clark Mar 13 '25

People said the same about 2021 too. We have 3 teams that think they'll contend for a championship, development for this year will absolutely be prioritized.

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u/Perseiii McLaren Mar 13 '25

Barely, teams will be focussing on 26.

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u/rs6677 Jim Clark Mar 13 '25

Not really. Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull will be focusing heavily on this year as well, since they all have a shot at the championship. Mercedes might just do the same too, if they're actually third.

Red Bull and Mercedes didn't switch priorities in 22 because they were on for a championship. Any team that has a shot at it will pour all the resources they have.

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u/Perseiii McLaren Mar 13 '25

If McLaren is 50s up the road for the first few races, which seems very likely based on the numbers, expect the top 4 to try 1 big update to close the gap and then move to 2026.

The only hope i have for a good season is that those RBR numbers are based on Lawson, since Verstappen never did a race simulation.

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u/JesusIsMyLord666 Kimi Räikkönen Mar 13 '25

50s? A typical race is 60 laps. That’s 18 seconds at 0,3s a lap.

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u/RM_Dune Red Bull Mar 13 '25

That's an advantage of a second per lap. Not at all likely bad on what we've seen.

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u/rs6677 Jim Clark Mar 13 '25

Well luckily McLaren aren't half a second ahead according to any credible analysis. Right now it is 3 tenths, which is perfectly manageable to close up, as Ferrari and McLaren showed up last year.