Helmut Marko dismisses Hamilton and Ferrari: Lando Norris favorite for 2025, followed by Max Verstappen. Hamilton and Ferrari dismissed by Helmut Marko.

Lando Norris in front, Max Verstappen chasing, Charles Leclerc behind with Mercedes—this is the F1 grid according to Helmut Marko, who overlooks Lewis Hamilton and the Ferrari SF-25. The Austrian is betting heavily on a duel between McLaren and Red Bull, despite the RB21 not shining in Bahrain testing. In his predictions, Maranello is possibly even behind their historic rivals from Brackley, awaiting confirmation from the Australian Grand Prix.

Just one more week, and words will no longer matter. The checkered flag in Melbourne, on the morning of March 16 for European fans, will deliver the first verdict of 2025. As of now, the outcome is completely uncertain: after Bahrain testing, little can be definitively said about the grid. Predictions, based solely on collected data, suggest a dominant MCL39. However, the other teams have been hiding their true pace.

One example is Ferrari, which ran with a rear wing unsuited to the Sakhir circuit. While it is true that the SF-25 has yet to fully satisfy both drivers and engineers, it is equally true that the potential to win exists. Ignoring this, Helmut Marko takes everything for granted: it will be a battle between Norris and Verstappen, while the others will pick up the scraps.

Helmut Marko: “McLaren is strong on any compound”

Speaking to *Auto Bild*, Helmut Marko shared his view: “Norris is ahead, behind him is Max, then Ferrari with Leclerc and Mercedes. The French team is certainly stronger than expected; they are still in good shape like last year. Right now, Alpine is the first team I would place behind the big four.” – he pointed out.

“McLaren is the favorite at the moment. In my opinion, it will be a three- or four-way battle between us, McLaren, Ferrari, and Mercedes. However, if we look at the test results, McLaren already has an advantage, both in qualifying pace and race pace.” – the Red Bull advisor believes.

“For us, Max is the obvious number one, but I don’t think Oscar Piastri would accept being a number two—it was already clear last year. On some tracks, he was on the same level or even faster than Lando. The advantage for McLaren is that they once again have a car that performs very well on any type of tire.” – he concluded.