F1 McLaren is bitter: “There was potential for the front row”

The 2024 season started with a fourth row resulting from seventh and eighth places achieved by Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. However, within the Woking team there is a certain bitter aftertaste, because both the drivers and the team believed that the MCL38 had the potential to do something more, to at least aim for the second row, perhaps even entering into battle with the Charles Leclerc's Ferrari for second place on the grid.

However, despite that potential, both drivers struggled to put together a flawless lap, which actually compromised the performance of several contenders. The changing conditions, as well as the wind, made it even more complex to be able to put in all the elements necessary to complete a clean lap. This was also seen with Leclerc himself, who had a pole position in Q2, even if he was then unable to replicate it in the last heat due to some mistakes in the second sector.

With such small margins at the start of the season, every mistake is proving costly and this has also penalized McLaren, which from a potential front row found itself only in seventh place.

“It was complicated. Maybe the wind changed a little. In Q3, when you push a little more and things change even a little, it can make a big difference, as happened to me,” said Lando Norris speaking of his compromised lap in Q3. A slip on the exit of turn 1, not so much on the run, but on the exit where he had to fight with excessive tire slip, as well as a mistake on turn 4 had a negative impact on the final result of the Briton , who then closed 435 thousandths behind Verstappen.

“The potential is very high, I felt comfortable throughout qualifying, so I was very happy. I did some good laps, the worst was the final one, which is usually not what you want. But the potential was there.”

“If I had done my lap and made no mistakes, I still think we probably should have been second or third. It's a pretty positive result for us,” added Norris, who comes off a rather troubled winter testing session due to several technical problems that took away his time on the track, complicating his preparation.

Telemetry comparison between Norris and Leclerc in qualifying in Bahrain

Photo by: Gianluca D'Alessandro

Team Principal Andrea Stella was also on the same wavelength, confirming that, from the numbers at their disposal, there was the potential to see a McLaren in the first two rows. Be careful though, neither Norris nor Piastri would have been able to replicate the time of 29.1 set by Verstappen in Q3, as well as the time recorded by Leclerc in Q2. If the Monegasque had managed to repeat himself, the front row would have been out of reach for the Woking team: “I think Red Bull and Ferrari are still a little further ahead, they are the only two teams that could do a 29.1, which it will be out of reach for us”, explained Andrea Stella at the end of qualifying, underlining what the problems and strengths of the single-seater were in qualifying.

“So while we are there and Lando with a clean lap would have finished second or third, I think Red Bull and Ferrari showed slightly superior performance to all the other teams. Even though we have improved the overall performance, as we said, in terms of the car's handling, we are still not at the point where we want to be.”

Although Norris said he was overall satisfied with how the car behaved in qualifying, net of errors, there are still some balance problems to address, especially during the car's rotation phase. The low temperatures that are being recorded in Bahrain in recent days have helped, a bit like what happened at the beginning of last season, when the MCL60 suffered on a hotter track: “Certainly, when we drive the car at the limit, we highlight some limits from a balance point of view, for example the rotation of the car in corners remains a bit difficult for our drivers. The car is certainly helped by the cold conditions, like those of last year, for example,” added Stella.

Even for Piastri, the eighth place finish was not the desired result, but the Australian underlined how McLaren started in a much better situation than twelve months ago and this leaves room for a feeling of confidence, given the awareness that not everyone the development targets were achieved in the winter break.

Oscar Piastri, McLaren F1 Team

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

“For me it was a bit more difficult day with the car. I felt that my last lap in Q3 went better, but it's still not the most comfortable day for the car. But I think the fact that I did a of those qualifying sessions and for two tenths to put me in third place is a pretty positive position to start the year, I'd say. We're certainly happier than we were 12 months ago, that's for sure.”

Even in terms of race pace, McLaren expects to be competitive with the group surrounding it, which includes Ferrari, Mercedes and Aston Martin, even if some weaknesses of the MCL38 appear more pronounced with high fuel loads, especially on the C3, where in the tests some more signs of weakness were seen.

“Qualifying showed that the difference in pace between many cars is very small and I don't expect this to change substantially in the race. Making progress will not be easy. I think this will be true for everyone in front, apart from Red Bull; I think they will be stronger than usual in the race”, added Piastri.

“We can make progress, this is a track where you can overtake and strategy is a very important element. We are definitely in contention.”