'It's Clear' Which Teams Will Be Top 2 According To Norris

Thursday, 29 February 2024 at 09:00

McLaren's Lando Norris suggested it was clear to him ahead of the first race of the season which two teams would be at the top.

Today is the day of the first two practice sessions of the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix weekend. The biggest question now is, what will be the pecking order during the qualifying on Friday and the race on Sunday?

Lando Norris was asked where he sees McLaren, and the 24-year-old told the media at Bahrain International Circuit his team doesn't know exactly but has a rough idea already.

"I think everyone's asking. I think we kind of have a rough idea of where we're at, but we don't actually really know where we stand comparing to a few other teams."

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The McLaren driver then went on to suggest it is clear which two teams will be fighting for podiums and which three teams will be chasing them.

"I think it's clear [which teams are] the top two. Then there's a bit of a bunch behind, which is Mercedes, Aston, and us."

From what Norris said, it seems Ferrari and Red Bull should be the top two teams, and looking at results from the pre-season testing last week, that seems pretty accurate.

While it wasn't anyone's goal to hit the fastest lap during the three days of testing, Red Bull and Scuderia seemed consistently the quickest throughout all three days.

The 24-year-old already said it seemed McLaren would have to close a big gap to Red Bull after the first race of the season, but so far, it isn't clear just how big of a gap it will be. He added:

"But in terms of how the pre-season test went, it was a lot better than last year. And we're in a much better position than last year, so that's the most important thing."