Lando Norris expressed satisfaction with his sixth-place finish in the Bahrain Grand Prix, describing it as a “difficult day” for him in the McLaren, despite the team keeping up with Mercedes’ pace.
Starting from seventh on the grid, the British driver encountered initial challenges with his rear tires, but his performance improved as the race progressed. He completed the race just under two seconds behind George Russell in fifth place.
Reflecting on the race, Norris mentioned encountering difficulties with the conditions and the car. However, he expressed relief that the team’s performance ultimately met their anticipated level of competitiveness.
Norris stated, “It didn’t feel great [on track], but then when you look at things, we were the same pace as Mercedes which is pretty much where we expected to be, and I think we should be happy with that.
“A little bit off, I’d say quite a bit off the Ferraris and a long way off the Red Bull, but again that’s what we were expecting.
“I think it was a difficult day the car balance was not nice. I think the wind conditions, as much as they died down and changed to what we thought was going to be favourable, I don’t really think it ended up that way. Some things to look into, but I’m happy with today.
“It was tough and I wanted that little bit more, especially to George [Russell] who was not far ahead, but I feel like I got the most out of the car today so I was happy with that.”
Historically, the Bahrain International Circuit hasn’t been kind to McLaren, as evidenced by Norris finishing last in the 2023 event and his teammate, Oscar Piastri, retiring from the race.
Given this track record, Norris sees reason for optimism in the team’s improved performance at the circuit this year.
He elaborated on his thoughts by explaining: “If you look at the stats of our performances in Bahrain, they’ve not been great, so to start the race and to start the year off like we have I think is positive.
“Of course, we always want that little bit more and especially when you’re so close, but we know where we stand.
“There were plenty of races even at the end of last year when we were great, Mercedes were still quicker than us at certain points and Ferrari was a lot quicker, so I’m hoping this is our ‘down’ in terms of just tricky tracks [that] are not suited to our car, and hopefully we’ve got some better ones coming up.”
In contrast, Piastri concluded the race in eighth place, maintaining his starting position. During the race, he engaged in a short-lived duel with Lewis Hamilton, with both drivers going side by side as Piastri exited the pit lane after his second pit stop. However, Hamilton ultimately prevailed, securing seventh place.
When questioned about his feelings regarding his result afterward, Piastri replied: “Not too bad, I think [it was] not a terrible way to start the year. I think we definitely had some good moments and bad moments in the race but, yeah, I think we were about where we expected, to be honest.
“It was close between everyone. [It] felt like with Lewis and with Lando and with George, even [Charles] Leclerc at one point, it just felt like we’d catch each other a tenth, [then] lose a tenth, so we’re close but not quite close enough to really fight.
“But I’m excited to see what the next few races have got in store for us because historically this place has not been very friendly to us. The next few races have been quite friendly to us, so I’m optimistic.”
As Formula 1 resumed racing following the winter hiatus, Piastri expressed his satisfaction at being back behind the wheel.
The Australian remarked; “It was nice to get back out there and just be racing, honestly it felt like I raced just last week, it felt pretty natural jumping back in! But yeah, not a bad way to start the year I think.”
