McLaren heads into the Formula 1 British Grand Prix cautious of Ferrari’s “impressive” pace, which has shown signs of strength not only at Silverstone but also as a major threat for the remainder of the 2025 season.
While the Scuderia failed to impress in qualifying, the lap times shown throughout the practice sessions were consistently competitive, as the recent Austria upgrade package proved to be effective.
Lewis Hamilton topped FP1, while Charles Leclerc went fastest in FP3, as the Woking-based squad voiced its concerns over the performance of its rivals.
However, heading into qualifying, Hamilton was on course for a front-row lap, but a snap of understeer cost him dearly, leaving him to settle for fifth for Sunday’s race.
Leclerc, similarly, suffered an issue of his own that left him in sixth, while the McLarens secured a 2-3 result on Saturday.
But despite qualifying ahead of the Ferraris and behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen, Team Principal Andrea Stella revealed afterwards that he was more concerned with the pace of the Prancing Horse.
“Definitely, I have to say that looking at the lap times that Ferrari have been able to pull off in every single session, Ferrari seem to be the strongest team,” he told media including Motorsport Week.
“I think the gaps are very small, and Max also went out for the final lap in Q3 relatively a few minutes later, or a minute later.
“And here, there could be a slight variation of wind that can affect one-tenth here and there.
“So everything is very tight – difficult to say which one was the strongest team, but Ferrari definitely appeared like the most competitive, even if we look at Q2.
“I think they were P1, P2, quite convincingly at the time. So it looks like the upgrades that they have taken to Austria, they seem to have worked very well.
“Which makes not only the Silverstone Grand Prix interesting, because of how tight the situation is at the front of the grid, but I would say also interesting for the remainder of the championship, especially with Ferrari.”
Tight competition expected amid uncertain weather conditions, says Stella
When asked about the breadth of competition expected for the race and the impact of the forecasted rain, Stella acknowledged the uncertainty and tight margins between the leading teams.
“I think in terms of dry conditions, very difficult to say who is the best team,” he said. “The lap times that Ferrari were able to produce in practice were quite impressive.
“There are some lap times they did in high fuel, which we were not in [a] condition to repeat, so definitely we thought that they were the favourites for the race, and even for qualifying.
“But we ended up seeing that the situation is very tight, so I don’t think we will see a big difference between Max, the two McLarens, the two Ferraris, and potentially even George.”
Stella added that Mercedes’ strong qualifying lap might have been a one-off, noting that “up until that point in Q3, it seemed like they [Mercedes] were not as competitive as the others for the top positions of the grid”.
On the possibility of rain affecting the race, he added: “The weather is a factor. If there’s weather around, we have seen last year, then here it can be quite entertaining because I don’t expect that it will be strong, persistent rain.
“If there is, it will be possibly more like last year, with various conditions throughout the race, and definitely one more reason for an eventful and entertaining British Grand Prix.”
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