Lando Norris, a British driver for McLaren, believes that in order to compete with teams like Red Bull and Ferrari, McLaren needs to make significant progress. Despite a strong start to the Formula 1 season, with Norris finishing sixth and his teammate Oscar Piastri finishing eighth, Norris recognizes the need for improvement. During the Bahrain Grand Prix, Norris was able to overtake Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin on Lap 3, allowing Piastri to follow suit. However, Norris was unable to catch up to Carlos Sainz in third place and fell short of fifth place by two seconds. Norris acknowledges that McLaren’s pace was similar to Mercedes, but they lacked the advantage needed to make overtakes or even get within DRS when in the dirty air.
“But perhaps after yesterday, I anticipated a bit more,” he continued. “However, when I mention a bit more, there’s a significant change in position, but not a significant change in lap time. You know, yesterday a difference of one and a half-tenths resulted in a shift of four positions.
“Honestly, I didn’t expect it to change too much today. I believe we are where we predicted to be, and that’s a promising start to the season.”
Despite being satisfied with the MCL38’s initial performance, Norris acknowledged that there is still work to be done for McLaren to consistently challenge.
“There are numerous areas that we still need to focus on improving if we want to be more consistent and competitive. However, considering this is a track where we typically struggle, the fact that we are so close to Mercedes is a positive sign that we can outperform them at certain tracks,” he added.
Norris disagreed with the notion that Red Bull was “in a league of their own” at the Bahrain International Circuit, jokingly stating, “I mean, Carlos wasn’t far behind.
“They [Red Bull] have always been strong in terms of race pace. And at this track, tire management is crucial due to its abrasive nature. So I believe Ferrari did a commendable job, but it’s a characteristic of this circuit for them to perform well.
“But they are clearly still ahead, that’s for certain. When you look at yesterday, they weren’t clearly in the lead. I think Charles had the fastest lap. So perhaps they can have their own battle between them, and I think that will benefit everyone.
“Red Bull’s strength lies in their race pace, and Max is particularly dominant. However, there is a significant gap between us and Ferrari on a circuit like this, and then another gap from Ferrari to Red Bull.
“We have two substantial gaps to close, but starting with one would be a positive step. I meant to say, can we achieve that step towards Max? Yes, in terms of Ferrari. And again, there will be certain tracks where we can do it, and certain tracks where we can’t, as we make further adjustments.”