McLaren may be ahead of works Mercedes team

McLaren could emerge as the second best team in 2021 - ahead of Mercedes.

That is the wild claim of respected British pitlane broadcaster Ted Kravitz, who emerged with his views on the official podcast of the Australian GP.

McLaren impressed and surprised the F1 world with its 'loophole' diffuser design for the new season, with Kravitz suggesting the newly Mercedes-powered team "spooked itself" with its rapid Bahrain testing pace.

"It was weird at the test actually," he said. "They had a very good day one in the dusty conditions and then they had a good day two.

"And then they went all sort of coy and they thought 'Oh my goodness, we better not show everything'. It's like they were scared," Kravitz added.

"They spooked themselves and they didn't want to give anything away so they stopped setting quick times to put everybody off the scent."

Kravitz believes McLaren may even be ahead of Mercedes early in 2021.

"There are going to be some doubts about whether they will be even faster than the factory Mercedes team as well," he admitted. "Some people have got McLaren in second behind Red Bull."

(GMM)