Lando and Oscar believe the Bahrain International Circuit will prove “a good test” of the MCL39’s abilities, with the track having not previously been a happy hunting ground for the team.

McLaren have enjoyed plenty of entertaining races in Sakhir – the team hold the track record here, while the circuit played host to Lewis Hamilton’s first front-row start in 2007 and Kimi Raikkonen’s remarkable drive from 22nd to 3rd in 2006. But we’ve yet to win in Bahrain, with the track not traditionally suiting our car’s strengths.

Asked whether this is a statistic the team could rectify this weekend, Oscar said ahead of FP1: “This has not been a great track for us in the past couple of years. Well, even longer than that, to be honest, so I think it will be a good test for us. I think there were certainly strong points from the test that we were happy with, but there were certainly not-so-strong points that we’ve done a lot of work to try and improve from the test.

“This car is not a completely different beast to what we’ve had the last couple of years, and there are still parts of this layout that, if you were to draw a perfect layout for the car, it probably still wouldn’t look like this.

“But I think we’re as confident as we have been in my time at the team. We are in a position to win this weekend, and I think we have some evidence from testing that we’re in a good place. But it’s also about 20 degrees hotter than testing, which is going to change things as well.”

Oscar has started strongly in Sakhir, finishing first in FP2 and FP3, as he continues to impress in 2025. The Australian is third in the Drivers' standings, with one win and two podiums from the opening four rounds.

“I’m pretty happy, to be honest,” Oscar told F1 TV at the end of Friday. “The car felt like it was in a good place.”

Starting position was key last time out in Japan, with Max Verstappen winning from Pole, and Oscar says he’s anticipating a similarly vital Qualifying session later on today.

“I think the one-lap pace looked strong, and the longer running looked reasonable,” he said. “Bahrain is a track that you can overtake on, and tyre deg is a big, big factor. Qualifying here is still going to be important, but we need to make sure we’ve got a good race car as well.”

Drivers’ Championship leader Lando looked good in all three practice sessions for Round 4, topping the first session and finishing second in FP2 and FP3, nearly half a second ahead of George Russell in third.

Despite the strong start and his feeling inside the car, Lando was keen to play down expectations, given our recent history at the track. Speaking to the media ahead of FP1, Lando said: “I think our advantage will be lessened compared to previous weekends, a trickier track, a slower speed circuit, which is not as favourable for us, and it's where the car is trickier.

“I expect a difficult weekend, but I don't expect any easy ones. Yes, the car is good, and yes, the team are doing an amazing job, but it's close, like you’ve seen the past few weekends.”

Temperatures are also much higher in Sakhir than when we visited the circuit for pre-season testing in February, with the heat averaging more than 30 degrees during the day.

Discussing the conditions and what impact they could have on the sessions, Lando said: “It will make it exciting on Sunday because the degradation is incredible today compared to the test.

“It’s hot, it’s windy… it’s more the temperature which makes such a big difference. It is what it is, it’s the same challenge for everyone.

“A big challenge is how can you look after the rear tyres in the best way possible. A lot of it is… we came into this weekend with a lot of our information from the pre-season test, but it’s basically like 'throw all of that in the bin and just start again', because it’s so different today.”

Lando remains at the front of the Drivers’ Championship standings but insisted that any pressure is purely external. The British driver said he feels no additional expectations outside of his own high standards, especially at this early stage of the season.

“Honestly, I go in with no expectations whatsoever,” he said, speaking to the media ahead of FP1. “I don't need that weight on my shoulders. I don't care about any of these things at the minute.

“I care about my preparation, figuring out what's the best tyres, or what feels good, what feels bad, and beginning some of the things that we're trying on the car.

“I don't need any expectations of what to expect going into a weekend. I just have my general expectations, which I don't think will have a big advantage here.”