By Alan Baldwin
SILVERSTONE, England (Reuters) – Formula One champions McLaren were first on track with their 2025 car on Thursday as Lando Norris put in some laps at a chilly Silverstone before handing over to team mate Oscar Piastri.
The MCL39 broke cover in a temporary papaya and black ‘camo’ livery for a filming day ahead of an official F1 season’s launch with the other teams in London next Tuesday.
“The team have worked extremely hard to prepare as best as possible for the start of the season,” said principal Andrea Stella.
“We learned a lot from our battles last year, so we take this and use it to push our goal for the year.”
Norris, overall runner-up to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen last year, and Australian Piastri will start the season as title rivals with McLaren wiping the slate clean from 2024 and having no number one driver.
“I have been working hard in the off-season to ensure I am ready for the season ahead. The margins at the top are likely to be incredibly tight but I’m excited by the room for growth after two seasons in the sport,” said Piastri.
“Winning grands prix early in my career has given me the taste for success and I want much more.”
McLaren ended a 26-year wait for a constructors’ title last season in a close battle with Ferrari, who have seven times world champion Lewis Hamilton joining from Mercedes alongside Charles Leclerc.
The Italian team will be launching their new car next Wednesday.
Testing starts in Bahrain on February 26 with the opening race in Melbourne on March 16.
“Today is a big milestone in our journey in the fight for the 2025 title,” said McLaren chief executive Zak Brown in a statement.
“We must be realistic that every team will have made progress over the winter. Last year highlighted just how much the grid has closed up, which is a brilliant thing for the sport.
“We believe we have made further steps forward since the championship-winning MCL38 but we won’t know where we sit in the standings until we get into qualifying in Australia.”
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Toby Davis)
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