McLaren star Lando Norris is still leading the drivers’ championship, but his advantage has been slashed at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Lando Norris complained throughout the race weekend that he wasn’t comfortable in his McLaren.
He was never on the same pace as his teammate Oscar Piastri, and his qualifying lap highlighted the difference between their driving style, which ultimately benefited the Australian.
Norris was extremely aggressive on the brakes, but this ended up costing him as Piastri was able to get on the power much earlier out of each corner and that earned him the second pole position of his Formula 1 career.
His McLaren teammate had to start sixth, and Max Verstappen spotted Norris out of his grid box, which scuppered some of the progress he made after a brilliant first lap.
He was running in third when he had to serve a five-second grid penalty, and that led to two intriguing battles with Charles Leclerc and George Russell.
Norris had already had to hand a position back to Lewis Hamilton earlier in the race for passing him off the track, and Leclerc frustrated him for far too long before he battled with Russell.
Russell’s GPS data failed, meaning Norris had to manually judge when he was in DRS range, which he did well, but he couldn’t find a way past the Mercedes and had to settle for the final spot on the podium as a result.
READ MORE: McLaren driver Lando Norris’ life outside F1 from parents to celebration
Jacques Villeneuve says Lando Norris is ‘cracking under pressure’ at the Bahrain Grand Prix
Formula 1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve was analysing the Bahrain Grand Prix race on Instagram and was quick to praise Piastri on his second victory of the year.
However, he wasn’t impressed with Norris and explained: “Very different race to Suzuka, well there, they had to do tyre management, today, we had to do lots of pit stops, but surprisingly the soft tyres were the good ones.
“Piastri, master of the weekend, controlled qualifying, controlled the race, mostly with his teammate showing signs of cracking under pressure.
“It seems to be the story of the season, little mistakes here and there, they’re costly, but he managed to salvage the lead of the championship, but he has to pay attention now because Piastri is not far behind.
A second home Grand Prix to remember! 🏆#McLaren | #BahrainGP 🇧🇭 pic.twitter.com/hEm6yJiuWa
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) April 13, 2025
“Russell, always scoring good points, he’s not far [behind], very discreetly
“Verstappen showed the limit of his car, they were hard conditions, completely different to Suzuka, it was tough, and that’s probably a trend for the rest of the season.
“But he showed early in the race that the hard tyre didn’t work, it was an awful tyre, and some drivers and teams put it on after the safety car.
“I’m not sure why because they were looking at the same results as us, and it was there, the message was there about the tyres.”
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Lando Norris laments ‘frustrating mistakes’ after Bahrain Grand Prix weekend
Ahead of the race in Bahrain, Martin Brundle pinpointed an issue with Norris that he needs to resolve to establish himself as the favourite for the championship.
The Brit is three points clear of Piastri and extended his gap over Verstappen, but sounded downbeat after both qualifying and the race itself.
| Position | Drivers’ Championship | Points |
| 1 |
Lando Norris |
77 |
| 2 |
Oscar Piastri |
74 |
| 3 |
Max Verstappen |
69 |
| 4 |
George Russell |
63 |
| 5 |
Charles Leclerc |
32 |
| 6 |
Andrea Kimi Antonelli |
30 |
| 7 |
Lewis Hamilton |
25 |
| 8 |
Alexander Albon |
18 |
| 9 |
Esteban Ocon |
14 |
| 10 |
Lance Stroll |
10 |
He said in his official press conference, “An up-and-down race today. Some frustrating mistakes, but still plenty of positives to take away with a strong points finish for the team in Bahrain.
“It was a really good race throughout, everyone pushing hard, right on the limit, which is always fun to be part of.
“Congratulations to Oscar and the whole team for today’s result. I’ll now keep my head down and work hard as we head to Saudi Arabia next weekend.”
He may not be as quick to praise his teammate if he wins again in Saudi Arabia, as that will hand the Australian the lead in the standings, and make him the first driver from Down Under to top the championship since Mark Webber in 2010.
