McLaren vs Mercedes straight-line speed gap at Baku F1

Baku and Monza are the circuits where power unit deficits are most brutally exposed, and McLaren's gap to Mercedes on the straights there is a direct read on where the two packages stand right now. Mercedes has deliberately held back its bigger upgrades for Bahrain, yet it hasn't needed them to dominate on high-speed, low-downforce layouts — which tells you something about the underlying engine delta. The article grounds that gap in specifics rather than vague talk of 'catching up,' which is the honest corrective to the narrative that the midfield has already closed the power gap to the front. Until McLaren can match Mercedes through the speed traps, the championship picture on certain track types remains tilted.