It was interesting listening to Zak Brown after this statement win by Oscar Piastri. McLaren’s chief executive was fulsome in his praise for the Australian, as you would expect. “I asked him yesterday what he had for breakfast, because I think we all need to have it,” Brown joked. “Oscar was dominant all weekend.”
But it was Brown’s praise for his other driver, Lando Norris, which was more noteworthy under the circumstances. “Lando had a mega race,” the American declared of Norris’s drive for third place. “You could tell on the first lap he was back. He did a great job. Back to the Lando we know.”
Norris, to be sure, did not drive badly in Bahrain. Starting in sixth after a terrible qualifying session on Saturday, one which left the British driver feeling as if he had “never driven a Formula One car before”, he made a blistering start, passing Kimi Antonelli, Pierre Gasly and Charles Leclerc in quick succession. And finishing third after starting sixth is never a bad thing.
But he also made a number of errors. He lost his bearings on the grid, advancing too far in his grid box and incurring a five-second penalty. Later, after a mid-race safety car had bunched the field, working in his favour, Norris lost position to Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton at the restart, then gained it back illegally by passing off track, having to give the place back again. Norris then made heavy weather of trying to pass the second Ferrari of Leclerc, causing Martin Brundle on commentary to declare “Lando’s racecraft tonight has certainly not been his finest”. Even Norris called himself a “muppet” after watching a replay of his attempted overtake at Turn 1, when he locked up.
"Nah mate, loads of room!" 🤣
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) April 13, 2025
George, Oscar and Lando having a watch of the race from the cooldown room 👀 pic.twitter.com/oHUNdXhTy7
By the time he did finally get the move on Leclerc done – with a brilliant overtake around the outside of Turn 4 it must be said – he only had a few laps in which to chase down George Russell’s misfiring Mercedes for second place. Norris had a dig on the final lap but Russell defended well and that was that. An opportunity missed. And by Norris’s admission, all a bit messy.
“I didn’t think I was that far forward I guess,” he confessed of his error on the grid. “A tough race. I made too many mistakes with the overtakes. It was a messy race for me. Disappointed not to bring home a 1-2 for McLaren, but a few positives. It was good racing though so no complaints. It was fun, everyone hard and on the limit as it should be. He [Russell] did a good job. I thought I’d be able to get him but he was saving a little bit. I’ll try and step it up next weekend.”
