F1 | Norris: “Good start, but it should go better in Jeddah”

The Bahrain Grand Prix ended with a sixth and eighth place for Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, guaranteeing McLaren a haul of twelve points. The start of the season is undoubtedly not what the Woking team had hoped for, but even before arriving in Bahrain the English team was aware of the current limitations of the MCL38, starting from the fact that it had not been able to complete the development plan initially expected for the winter.

The delays led McLaren to show up at Sakhir with a car not capable of competing with the best Ferrari and the best Red Bull, an aspect that in reality both the drivers and the Team Principal had not hidden on the eve of the opening round of the championship . In qualifying the new car would most likely have been able to pick up something on the track, with a potential front row as the target if it hadn't been for some errors on the part of the drivers in the last attempts.

A realistic objective according to the team, however linked only to the performance on the flying lap, where the gaps proved to be quite limited, net of the difficulties in finding the perfect lap due to the presence of strong gusts of wind. However, the low temperatures recorded in Sakhir helped, a bit like what happened at the beginning of last season, where in the cool weather the MCL60 tended to come to life and provide some more satisfaction.

However, as expected on the eve of the race, both Red Bull and Ferrari showed a decidedly superior pace to McLaren, who then finished 50 seconds behind the best RB20 and 23 seconds behind Sainz's SF-24. An expected result because, although the improvements compared to 12 months ago are evident, on the other hand those teams like Ferrari that had important limitations at the concept level were able to take a considerable step forward compared to their more direct competitors.

Furthermore, Bahrain confirmed the weakness of the MCL38 in low speed sections, an aspect that the new car inherits from last season's single-seater, which in such slow areas was unable to make the front work, suffering from chronic understeer.

“It's no different to last year. There are things that we weren't able to deal with, others that make us go up and down every weekend. I think today we struggled a lot and the wind changed. Some corners were incredibly bad compared to those of yesterday,” explained Norris at the end of the race, analyzing the progress of the race.

However, in recent years McLaren has often struggled in Bahrain and this was an element that the Woking team had already highlighted before taking to the track in Sakhir, which is why, despite the 23 seconds accumulated by Cavallino, they are trying to look ahead with confidence.

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

“I think it's clear that there are many areas we still need to focus on to improve if we want to be more consistent and competitive. But considering that it is a track where we still struggle, the fact of being so close to Mercedes is still a good sign for us that on some tracks we will be able to be in front. I'm confident, the team is doing a good job and it's a good starting position,” added the Briton.

In fact, Norris managed to get behind Hamilton's Mercedes, author of a disappointing race after Friday's subpar qualifying, although it should be mentioned that the seven-time world champion was stuck in traffic for a long time and paid some technical problems on his W15. A fate similar to that of George Russell, fifth, who however preceded Norris by just two seconds: at the end the McLaren driver paid for finding himself in the dirty air and was unable to attack, but it is also true that the Stella had to reduce her pace considerably to manage the overheating problems affecting her Power Unit.

“We were close to the Mercedes, I don't think we had any advantage over them. The pace was so similar that as soon as I got into the dirty air I didn't have enough of an advantage to have a chance of overtaking or getting into the DRS. Maybe I could have beaten George, but that's it. I think we're where we expected to be and this is just a good start to the season, so I'm happy,” added Norris.

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Formula 1 will immediately return to the track in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, a track which, according to the Briton, will be closer to McLaren's strengths, not so much in terms of top speed, but rather for the sequence of fast corners that already last year they suited the characteristics of the Woking house better. In 2023, in fact, Piastri managed to achieve his first Q3 in his career, even if the race was immediately compromised by a contact.

Asked whether the fast and flowing Jeddah Corniche circuit in Saudi Arabia will be better suited to the MCL38, Norris replied: “Honestly, I don't know. It's a little more high-speed, a little more medium-speed, which normally suits us. But it's also a track where you want to have a good front at the apex of the corner, which we don't have at all, so there will still be things we have to struggle with a lot. On average, the track speed is higher, which maybe should suit us a little better, so I'm excited.”

Despite the 25 seconds accumulated by Ferrari, Norris believes that the Ferrari is beatable in the next events: “Ferrari? Yes [riusciremo a batterli]. Again, in some circuits we will do it and in others we won't, and as we change things.”