By James Broughton, March 3, 2025
I tend not to pay too much attention to F1 winter testing unless there are new regulation changes. And this year, 2025, the regulations remain unchanged. That doesn’t mean the teams are standing idly by, scratching their backsides. While the new 2025-spec cars may look the same as last year’s, they are entirely new from the ground up. This is a year of making significant gains by implementing the smallest changes—numerous engineering and aerodynamic updates that add up to faster lap times.
But winter testing masks just how much performance gains teams have made. More testing is done virtually, within the confines of accelerated computer hardware, than is spent testing the limits of the car in real-world conditions.
It matters little that Williams, Haas, or Ferrari topped the time sheets because fuel loads, engine map settings, and long-run configurations remain unknown. Additionally, track conditions are cooler during pre-season testing, which improves lap times by a couple of tenths.
However, we can gain some insight by using last year’s qualifying time as a benchmark. Verstappen secured pole position at the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix with a time of 1:29.179. On day two of the three-day test, Carlos Sainz set the fastest lap, which contrasts with the 1:30.221 set by Williams’ Alex Albon in 2024.
So, does this mean Williams has made a significant step forward and is the team to beat? If only it were that simple. Clearly, Williams ran a low-fuel, qualifying lap, ensuring they grabbed headlines and the spotlight that comes with it.
Hamilton came within a few hundredths of a second of Sainz’s fast lap—so is this a two-way battle between Ferrari and Williams? Not quite. We simply don’t know the fuel levels, engine settings, brake configurations, or any other engineering variables at play. Testing an F1 car isn’t just about single-lap performance; it’s about the bigger picture.
What we do know, based on circumstantial rumours, is that McLaren appears to be the team to beat in terms of overall pace, while Ferrari, Mercedes, and Red Bull seem closely matched. As for the rest, they’re simply filling out the grid order.
So to conclude… we know that we know nothing, so we must wait for the first race of the season to begin.
