For the first time in the hybrid era, McLaren travelled to Formula 1's curtain raiser as the undisputed pre-season favourite. It came out of the Bahrain test leading our long-run calculations quite handsomely, and after Friday practice in Melbourne rivals were also putting the papaya squad at least three tenths ahead.
Simulations and calculations are one thing, but on Saturday afternoon McLaren proved rival fears were justified. Last year's title-winning constructor still found ways to innovate and iterate on its victorious design as Lando Norris took pole ahead of Oscar Piastri, crucially nearly four tenths ahead of Max Verstappen.
