A dejected Lando Norris said he felt like he had “never driven a Formula One car before” after only qualifying sixth for Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix. His McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri took pole.
Norris had no explanation for why he was so slow in Bahrain qualifying, adding he was “letting McLaren down” by lapping four tenths and five places behind Piastri.
The 25-year-old seemed at a complete loss to explain his lack of pace, saying he “just wasn’t quick enough” in his post-qualifying interview before appearing to gesture towards his head when asked why that might be.
All in all, it was a worrying performance on and off the track from the McLaren driver, who leads the championship by one point from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen after three rounds, but who is beginning to come under increasing pressure from Piastri.
Piastri, 24, has looked the more comfortable driver in Bahrain this weekend, just as the Australian did in China two races ago.
Even in the other two races, at the season opener in Melbourne and again last weekend in Suzuka, Piastri was breathing down Norris’s neck for much of the race. This underlines the fact that the Briton faces a serious battle from within his own team this season.
The pressure appears to be taking a toll, with Norris cutting a frustrated figure in the interview pen after posting a time of 1min 30.267sec compared with Piastri’s 1:29.841. “I’m just not quick enough,” he told Sky Sports F1.
Asked why that might be, he pointed to his head. “No idea. Just not quick enough. It’s just another day. Look into things to see why I was struggling too much and try again tomorrow.”
The interviewer, trying to get him to expand on his feelings, asked what he might do to pick himself up. “Nothing. Just go to sleep,” Norris replied before walking away.
Norris later added: “I have been slow this whole weekend, to be honest. Nothing too surprising. I have just been off it. The car is amazing. I have nothing to complain about, the team are doing an amazing job but I am just letting them down. I don’t know [why], I feel like I’ve just never driven a Formula One car before so struggling a lot. I need to try and find answers.”
Norris’s mood was in stark contrast to that of his team-mate, who is clearly brimming with confidence. Piastri was fastest in FP2, in FP3 and then produced when it mattered in Q3. “I’ve felt confident all weekend,” Piastri admitted. “In qualifying, the others were a little closer than we wanted but got the lap time when it mattered. I can’t thank the team enough for the car they’ve given me.”
Mercedes’ George Russell took a surprise second on the grid with a stonking lap, less than two-tenths slower than Piastri’s but the Briton and his team-mate Kimi Antonelli, who was fourth quickest behind the Ferrari of ...
