F1 journalist confirms expected pecking order following testing and it’s a disaster for Ferrari

A Formula 1 journalist has come up with a possible pecking order for the 2025 season after looking at data from testing.

This week, all 10 teams arrived at the Bahrain International Circuit as testing ahead of the 2025 campaign took place across three days.

On the first day, McLaren star and title favourite Lando Norris topped the timing sheet with a fastest lap of 1:30.430.

Williams driver Carlos Sainz, who lost his Ferrari seat to Lewis Hamilton, finished Day Two on top after clocking a best lap of 1:29.348.

On Friday, Mercedes star George Russell was the star of the show as he secured the top spot with a time of 1:29.545.

However, we will not see the true speed and potential of each team until the season gets underway in Melbourne, Australia, in two weeks' time.

Despite that, the editor of Motorsport.com Germany, Kevin Hermann, has crunched the data and revealed his expected pecking order for the new season.

F1 journalist reveals possible pecking order for 2025 season

Hermann has placed Sauber at the bottom of the pile, with them expected to be at least 1.3 seconds behind the leaders.

The likes of Haas and Aston Martin were next, and they are said to be 1 second behind the front of the grid.

The midfield battle is set to be won by Alpine, with Williams and RB just behind them.

Moving onto the top four, Hermann expects Ferrari to finish in a disappointing fourth place, 0.45 seconds behind the winners.

Mercedes have been placed in third place, with Red Bull second and McLaren expected to be the team to beat again.

Hermann claimed that McLaren have been 'sandbagging' - a term used to refer to the 'process of a team, or a driver, deliberately posting slower lap-times than the car is capable of to disguise their true potential'.

He wrote: "McLaren impressed on all three test days - even if the team tried to convince the competition. In addition, McLaren operated probably the largest sandbagging in the entire field, especially in the qualifying simulations. The top speed was noticeably low.

"In the racing simulations, however, the team could no longer hide its true pace. Lando Norris was on average 0.46 seconds faster than the rest of the field on Thursday, Oscar Piastri on Friday also more than three tenths per round."