Lando Norris believes his main rivals for victory at the F1 Bahrain GP have yet to show their true pace.
Lando Norris and McLaren looked strong again on Friday, with Norris and team-mate Oscar Piastri finishing first and second in both sessions. FP2 was a statement of intent, as McLaren finished half a second clear of George Russell’s Mercedes. However, despite the headline times, Norris is still being cautious.
Speaking after FP2, Norris described his day as “difficult” despite the apparent pace of the MCL39.
“A difficult day, just re-adapting back to the reality of Bahrain, the difficulties of Bahrain, which make it tough,” said Norris. “It will make it exciting on Sunday, because the degradation is incredible today comparing to the test.
“It’s kind of weird today, because everything feels dreadful but I think relatively our pace was still in a reasonable place. I think a reasonable Friday.”
Are McLaren rivals sandbagging at the F1 Bahrain GP?
Lando Norris then confirmed what was behind the car feeling “dreadful”.
“I think it’s just conditions. It’s just the temperature, it’s hot, it’s windy… it’s more the temperature which makes such a big difference. It is what it is, it’s the same challenge for everyone.
“A big challenge is how can you look after the rear tyres in the best way possible. A lot of it is… we came into this weekend with a lot of our information from the pre-season test, but it’s basically like throw all of that in the bin and just start again, because it’s so different today.”
Norris when asked about the pace of rivals Red Bull and Mercedes, accused them of not showing their true pace.
“I just don’t think they turned up. Everyone just looks at the timesheets, they have no idea about the information on who turns up, who doesn’t… it’s like three-and-a-half, four-tenths around here, so that puts us back in the same position as the Mercedes.”
Oscar Piastri: Car “in a good place”
Piastri believes his car is in a good place ahead of qualifying, with long run pace a particular strength.
“I’m pretty happy, to be honest,” he said. “The car felt like it was in a good place. FP1 was a very different story! I’m glad that everything came together a bit more. I think the one-lap pace looked strong and the longer running looked reasonable as well.”
Piastri admitted the gap to the rest of the field surprised him when asked: “Yes and no. I think for it to be quite that big was a bit of a surprise, but I think the others will find a bit more tomorrow – I think it will be pretty close.
“It’s nice to have it now, but Bahrain is also a track that you can overtake on, and tyre deg is a big, big factor. Qualifying here is still going to be important, but I think we need to make sure we’ve got a good race car as well.”
