Taking tire compound into account and correcting times accordingly, STR are not off to a bad start.
Also, only the big 3 posted respectable times on the mediums, which is supposed to be the benchmark compound. They and Renault. Although the Renault engine has some issues with operating temperatures for their turbos and neither Renault nor Mac ran race simulations. If they can find solutions to that, and there's no reason why a factory team shouldn't, 4th place in the WCC is looking closer for them than for any other team.