Twenty-four hours of Formula 1 pre-season testing, over three days in Bahrain, left the impression that McLaren will start the new season as they ended the last – as the team to beat.

Mercedes’ George Russell ended the final day with the fastest time, just 0.021 seconds quicker than Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. And the best lap of the entire test was set by Carlos Sainz, following his switch to Williams from Ferrari to make way for Lewis Hamilton.

But there seemed enough evidence to suggest that McLaren, who last year won their first constructors’ title since 1998, have a definitive advantage. On the afternoon of the second day of testing, McLaren’s Lando Norris did a race-simulation run at the same time as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli. The Briton’s pace was breathtaking. He would have won the ‘race’ by more than 30 seconds, and was on average more than 0.5secs a lap quicker than his rivals.

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