After solid practice sessions throughout the race weekend of the Bahrain Grand Prix and high expectations, McLaren only managed to get one of its drivers on the front row of the grid as Lando Norris finished P6. His team-mate Oscar Piastri finished his impressive Saturday on pole, followed by Mercedes’ George Russell and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
Despite finishing at the top of the timesheets alongside his team-mate throughout the practice sessions, Norris made a mistake on Turn 1 on the one lap that counted.
Talking with Sky Sports F1 following Q3, he was incredibly disappointed in his performance.
“I didn’t even go a tenth quicker,” he lamented. “I’m just not quick enough.”
On being asked where and why he wasn’t quick enough, he simply pointed to himself.
“Here,” he said. “honestly, no idea. No idea, just not quick enough.
“It’s just another day. [We will] look into things, see why I was struggling so much today and try again tomorrow.”
He was further asked what he needs to do to pick himself up for tomorrow, he answered:
“Nothing. Go to sleep.”
Sky Sports F1 pundit Karun Chandhok analysed the Briton’s pace compared to his team-mate:
“He has looked behind. He has looked behind since FP2. He was behind in Q2 as well. He lost three tenths in the first sector, so he would have been nip and tuck with George, but he would have still been behind Oscar – and you don’t want to be beaten by your team-mate.
“To be sixth on the grid on a weekend where we have spoken about a McLaren one-two and intra-team battle, he’s now got four other people in front.”
Unlike the current championship leader, Piastri feels confident ahead of his Bahrain campaign.
“I’ve felt confident out there pretty much all weekend,” he said in the post-qualifying interview. “FP1 was an experience, for us all I think, it felt more like a rally car than an F1 car.
Lando Norris, McLaren
Photo by: Clive Mason/Getty Images
“But from then on, I’ve felt really comfortable with the car. FP3 we had good pace. In qualifying, the others caught up a little bit closer than what I wanted but I still delivered the laps when it mattered, which was the most important thing at the end. So very, very happy.”
He was asked how he can make the most of his place with the other Papaya driver starting so far behind him:
“Let’s see. I’ve got to get to Turn One in first, so let’s see what happens. But I’ve felt like I’ve been comfortable all weekend and there’s no better place to start than on pole. I can’t thank the team enough for the car they’ve given me and excited for the race tomorrow.”
Leave feedback about this