McLaren engineers sent Lando Norris out onto the Bahrain International Circuit plastered in lime green paint on Wednesday.
The sight of the newly-launched MCL39 emerging from the garage looking like it had been drenched in slime may have been perplexing for the casual F1 viewer. But it was not just a bit of fun from a team who must be feeling confident ahead of the 2025 season.
Instead, McLaren evidently used the pre-season test in Bahrain to better understand the aerodynamic properties of their new F1 car. Flow-vis paint is sprayed on in the pits and then moves as the car drives around the circuit.
Once it has dried, engineers are left with a clear visual indication of the car’s ‘flow structures’.
Former Williams, Ferrari and Jordan engineer Rob Smedley told the F1 website: “When we then analyse that, we’re usually looking for things like separation, as in where the flow’s separating and we’re not getting decent flow structures across the surfaces of the car.
“That can then tell the aerodynamicists a lot about what’s going on upstream of that, and hopefully that helps them to rectify certain problems on the car.”
There did not appear to be much wrong with Norris’ car during the first look at this year’s machines in action. He finished day one of testing with the fastest lap time, ahead of George Russell and reigning quadruple world champion Max Verstappen.
Norris fell short of his maiden Drivers’ Championship last season. But with McLaren finishing the year on fire and winning the team title, many have tipped him to knock Verstappen off his perch in 2025.
“My mindset at the minute is great,” Norris said during last week’s F1 75 launch event. “I definitely think it’s different to how it was last year.
“Last year, I proved to myself that I can fight against Max, and I can win races, and I can do Abu Dhabi, and pole, and qualify well, and get off the line. I proved it to myself.
“For me, a lot of my mentality is based off of that, which is maybe not always the best thing, but it’s how I work, it’s how I live. And last year I proved that to myself. So I feel like I’m very relaxed, but in a comfortable way, in a determined way, that I feel like I can keep things under control. I’m not getting too nervous or too ahead of myself.”
