Building on strong foundations: MP Motorsport Pre-Season Round-Up

MP Motorsport had a splendid 2024 campaign, finishing third in the Teams’ Championship. That means they head into 2025 with a lot of confidence, helped by a very good three days of pre-season testing.

The Dutch outfit come into the year in an advantageous position, given that their 2025 drivers Oliver Goethe and Richard Verschoor finished last season with them.

Goethe took part in the final four rounds of the year, while Verschoor did the last two in Lusail and Yas Marina, and MP continued to build on those foundations set by being one of the busiest teams in pre-season testing.

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With 387 laps completed, the Dutch team were looking to get their drivers even more comfortable within the car, as the engineers also worked to unlock more performance.

The early results look promising, especially on low fuel runs with both Goethe and Verschoor competitive and near the top of the timesheets on all three days at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Goethe was quick out the box on Day 1, finishing third-fastest in the morning, while also doing the most laps, with 37.

It was Verschoor that completed the most laps though in the afternoon. The 24-year-old did 50 tours of the Barcelona track, ending up in 10th.

Their strong form continued on Day 2 as Goethe closed out the afternoon segment in P1 with a 1:24.372, over a tenth ahead of Verschoor in third.

But in all of this, low fuel runs were not the only things on the agenda as long runs were also a huge focus for MP, especially for Goethe, who did 42 laps in the final afternoon, four less than Verschoor – who also ended up P4 in that session.

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Ahead of pre-season testing, the Red Bull Junior Team member spoke of the need for him to improve across a race distance.

“I think my long runs need a little bit of work compared to Richard in Abu Dhabi,” he explained. “He did a very good stint in the Feature Race. He's got a lot of experience, so it's good to learn from someone like him.

“I think consistency is key in Formula 2, so my goal is to be as consistent as possible. There were some races where I was struggling a bit more and a couple of races which went really well like Qatar.”

With 194 laps completed across the test, Goethe will certainly be heading to Melbourne with a better understanding of how to get the best out of himself and the car across a race distance.

For Verschoor, his 193 laps will have been just as helpful, especially as he also looks to pick up from where he left off in Abu Dhabi, finishing third in the Feature Race.

This all made for a really positive test and for MP’s Team Manager Jeremy Cotterill, things are looking good ahead of the season-opener.

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“It was okay,” said Cotterill when asked about the pre-season test. “We worked through the majority of our programme, it was okay.

“We did the last two rounds with Richard and the last four rounds with Ollie. So of course, to be able to make our plan for 2025 early, at the end of 2024 is always useful.

“There is no bedding in process, that's all done, so everybody learns how to work together, but now we have to get to work.

“There is always room for improvement on everybody’s side, but overall, I think we are satisfied with the three days.”

MP would have returned to their factory after the test, looked over the data and ramped up their preparations for Melbourne.

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It is a track where they have performed well since it came on to the calendar in 2023, with Dennis Hauger winning the Sprint Race that year before taking pole in 2024.

Any replication of that this weekend will definitely be welcomed by the team and their two drivers.