Lando Norris has indicated he expects another external challenge for victory at the F1 Bahrain GP.
Losing pole position for the Japanese GP to Max Verstappen relegated the Briton to a frustrating race behind the Dutchman. Unable to pass the reigning champion, he finished a disappointing second. Although his McLaren was arguably faster, the effect of dirty air prevented him from passing.
Speaking on media day ahead of the F1 Bahrain GP, Norris said he expects another tricky weekend ahead.
“We’ve had a great start to the season and I know a lot of things are amazing, but it’s a much slower speed circuit than the last few weekends. We still know that’s one of our weaker areas. I’m not expecting bad things, I’m just expecting a trickier weekend than the last few.
Lando Norris and McLaren under threat at the F1 Bahrain GP
Elaborating where he believes he and McLaren will struggle, Lando Norris said the team was wary of qualifying.
“I think maybe this weekend potentially we struggle a bit more in Qualifying, and what was proved in pre-season testing was our race pace was strong.
“Maybe with the hotter temperatures our race pace can still be very strong, but I don’t expect us to be as comfortable in Qualifying. But hopefully I’m wrong and it’s an easy weekend for us.“
Norris also admitted his disappointment in losing the Japanese GP to Max Verstappen, stating he wanted to “make amends”.
“I would love if there was only one [winner] and that was me,” said Norris. “Oscar is doing a very good job so I’m not surprised he’s won a race, and I don’t think we’ve ever put Red Bull or Max out of the race. I’m not surprised he’s also won a race.
“Did we have a better car last weekend? Yes. Should we have beaten them? Yes, but they and Max did a better job and they deserved it over us. We took it on the chin, it was not a good feeling, we were not happy after last weekend, but that’s life sometimes and we try and go into this weekend and make amends.”
Oscar Piastri ‘ in a position to win’ the F1 Bahrain GP
Team-mate Oscar Piastri however has more confidence ahead of Bahrain. He believes McLaren remains in a strong position ahead of the race on Sunday.
“I don’t think it changes much,” he said. “I think we have the quickest car at the moment, but our advantage is not enough to be careless and kind of lay back and not execute as best as you can.
“We saw Melbourne was a very strong weekend for us, but we also got the most out of the car and both of us felt we drove very well. I think China in the Sprint – Sprint Quali, Lando went on pole – and I think China and Japan have both shown that it doesn’t take much to go wrong for us to not be at the front.
“We have an advantage in the race for sure, but in Qualifying you have to still be on it because the gap is not much still. As we saw in Japan, Max put in a good performance and it was enough to be better than us. So I think that’s just another demonstration that it’s going to be tight the whole year and we’ve got to be on our best form.”
“I think we’re as confident as we have been in my time at the team. We are in a position to win this weekend, and I think we have some evidence from testing that we’re in a good place.
“But yeah, it’s also about 20 degrees hotter than testing, which is going to change things as well.”
