Norris feels McLaren ‘unlikely’ to fend off Red Bull in Bahrain as he looks to ‘make amends’ for Suzuka

Lando Norris believes that McLaren are “unlikely” to fend off a potential challenge from Red Bull at the Bahrain Grand Prix following Max Verstappen’s victory last time out in Japan, though the Briton hopes that his team can “make amends” for missing out on that win.

After triumphing in Australia and China via Norris and team mate Oscar Piastri respectively, the papaya team had to settle for a 2-3 result at Suzuka following a masterful drive from Verstappen, meaning that the Dutchman has now closed the gap in the Drivers’ standings down to just one point behind leader Norris.

Now the championship moves on to Bahrain and, when asked if he thinks that McLaren can keep Red Bull at bay during the weekend ahead, Norris played down those expectations as he responded: “Unlikely, just from my feelings at the minute.

“We’ve had a great start to the season and I know a lot of things are amazing, but it’s a much slower speed circuit than the last few weekends. We still know that’s one of our weaker areas. I’m not expecting bad things, I’m just expecting a trickier weekend than the last few.”

SUZUKA, JAPAN - APRIL 05: Second placed qualifier Lando Norris of Great Britain and McLaren and — Norris was beaten to victory by Verstappen last time out at the Japanese Grand Prix

Reflecting further on his feelings about the event in Sakhir, the 25-year-old added: “Red Bull are close; they’re not that far off, maybe one-tenth or maybe two-tenths, but that’s it and it’s still not a lot of time.

“I think maybe this weekend potentially we struggle a bit more in Qualifying, and what was proved in pre-season testing was our race pace was strong. Maybe with the hotter temperatures our race pace can still be very strong, but I don’t expect us to be as comfortable in Qualifying. But hopefully I’m wrong and it’s an easy weekend for us.”

And when quizzed on whether he was surprised to see three different winners across the opening races, Norris spoke of his disappointment at McLaren not continuing their run of victories at the Japanese Grand Prix.

“I would love if there was only one [winner] and that was me,” the British driver said. “Oscar is doing a very good job so I’m not surprised he’s won a race, and I don’t think we’ve ever put Red Bull or Max out of the race. I’m not surprised he’s also won a race.

Norris expecting ‘a trickier weekend than the last few’ in Bahrain

“Did we have a better car last weekend? Yes. Should we have beaten them? Yes, but they and Max did a better job and they deserved it over us. We took it on the chin, it was not a good feeling, we were not happy after last weekend, but that’s life sometimes and we try and go into this weekend and make amends.”

Piastri, meanwhile, does not feel that Verstappen’s win at Suzuka has altered much in terms of whether McLaren now view Red Bull as more of a threat, with the Australian remaining confident about the Woking-based outfit’s performance.

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“I don’t think it changes much,” he commented. “I think we have the quickest car at the moment, but our advantage is not enough to be careless and kind of lay back and not execute as best as you can.

“We saw Melbourne was a very strong weekend for us, but we also got the most out of the car and both of us felt we drove very well. I think China in the Sprint – Sprint Quali, Lando went on pole – and I think China and Japan have both shown that it doesn’t take much to go wrong for us to not be at the front.

BAHRAIN, BAHRAIN - APRIL 10: Oscar Piastri of Australia and McLaren speaks in the Drivers Press — Piastri remains confident that McLaren are in a position to win in Bahrain

“We have an advantage in the race for sure, but in Qualifying you have to still be on it because the gap is not much still. As we saw in Japan, Max put in a good performance and it was enough to be better than us. So I think that’s just another demonstration that it’s going to be tight the whole year and we’ve got to be on our best form.”

The Bahrain International Circuit has historically not been the strongest track for McLaren, meaning that Piastri is expecting the venue to be a “good test” for the team.

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However, the 24-year-old reiterated his belief in the outfit as he added: “I think we’re as confident as we have been in my time at the team. We are in a position to win this weekend, and I think we have some evidence from testing that we’re in a good place.

“But yeah, it’s also about 20 degrees hotter than testing, which is going to change things as well.”