Amidst the anticipation of the Bahrain qualifying session, with reigning champion Max Verstappen, George Russell, and Charles Leclerc battling for the top spots, Lando Norris secured seventh place on the grid for tomorrow’s race.
Despite some challenges in the earlier practice sessions and claiming he “made a mistake in turn one and turn four”, causing him to miss out on the top positions, the cooler temperatures during qualifying seemed to suit him well.
“The car got better and better through qualifying, and especially when it cooled down and the wind calmed down, the car came alive.”
“We knew already from pre-season testing, as soon as it cools down, the balance comes together and we get more confidence, we can push a lot more.”
“When we go lower fuel, lower and lower fuel, the car comes together more and more, and everything picks up. It goes in the direction we want.
“But obviously we want that at any fuel level, we want it at any wind condition or temperature.”
Nonetheless, Norris’s overall performance was commendable, especially considering McLaren’s struggles in the previous season. “If you told me, could we be P2, or potential to be P2 before this weekend… I would have been surprised, but yeah, it was possible,” Norris claimed, acknowledging the team’s progress.
Looking ahead to the race, Norris remains cautiously optimistic. While cooler temperatures may play to his advantage, he acknowledges the need to address the challenges. “I got told it was going to be warmer tomorrow, so that’s not something I look forward to.”
As the qualifying session came to a close, Norris secured a respectable seventh place although it should have been even better thanks to a very poor first sector.
“It’s a very good start for us as a team… plenty of things to improve and get us further up the field,” Norris concluded, reflecting on McLaren’s progress versus this time last year and the work still to be done.
“I’m confident we can have a good race, but it’s close. So, to go forward, we need to maximise everything.
“If you look at one year ago, this weekend, we were in a very bad place, and we had to come out of a big hole. So, to know where we are now, to know what things we can still improve on and have coming over the next few months, it gives me good confidence, and it should give the team good confidence.
“I think we’re in a good place. It’s a nice surprise to be as strong as we were today, and yeah, plenty of things to improve and get us further up the field.”
