McLaren are widely expected to possess F1’s fastest car at next w🥂eek’s season🎃-opening Australian Grand Prix.

But the ques💧tion of who will most closely challenge the constructors’ champions at th🌌e 2025 curtain-raiser is hotly debated.

Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes showed glimpses of their potential in F1 pre𝄹-season testi🍎ng but remain far from a guaranteed bet.

168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Lewis Hamilton, on his Ferrari debut, races in a gran🎐d prix he has won twiceꦇ and been on the podium at on 10 occasions.

Max Verstappen retains his stat🎉us as F1’s top driver and drivers’ champion despite doubts around his car.

Our experts had their say on who McLaren must watch out for…

Lewis Larkam: “Ferrari appeared to♎ keep their car🌺ds close to their chest in pre-season testing in Bahrain.

“I think Ferrari will be the closest challengers to McLaren i🥂n♔ Australia, and I wouldn’t be totally shocked if they actually took the win.

“There’s just something about the Prancing Horse winning the opening round of the season in Melbourne,ღ which coincidentally happens to be one of Lewis Hamilton’s b💯est tracks…”

Connor McDonagh: “It might have been a patchy three days of testing for Red Bull in Bahrain but it would be foolish to ꧙rule Max Verstappen out.

“Even if Red Bull aren’t quite on🌱 McLaren’s pace, Verstappen will be thဣere or thereabouts.

“There are still question marks around Mercedes’ pace amid the cooler conditi🧔ons in Bahrain. Plus🐷, we’ve yet to see the best from Ferrari.

“Verstappen has proved consistently over the past few years that he’s ജcomfortably the best driver on the grid - and most consistent.”

Lewis Duncan: “McLaren should hit the ground running and be hard to beat in Melbourne. The team clearly has the best car in F1 at the moment and both of its drivers are more than capable of controlling races🍬.

“Pre-season testing is always hard to read, but the pace that Lewis Hamilton showed in the Ferrari looks enco😼uraging.

“The challenge ahead of him and the injection of fresh confidence his Ferrari switch has already brought him should also mean we see a🌳 more fired up version of the seven-time champion than we have done fo🌳r a long time.”