Norris Rebukes His Qualifying Performance: 'Car Was Easily Good Enough For Front Row'

Saturday, 02 March 2024 at 12:00

Lando Norris was not at all satisfied with his qualifying performance after scoring P7 ahead of the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix race.

McLaren cars didn't show signs of a strong qualifying pace during the pre-season testing of free practice sessions ahead of the qualifying at the Bahrain International Circuit.

However, the Papaya drivers surprised everyone when they started setting some purple sectors here and there, showing McLaren would be a strong contender for the top three.

But, in the end, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri failed to put in a perfect lap, which means they will start the Saturday race alongside each other from the fourth row on the grid. Asked if he got everything out of his car, Norris told the media:

"Absolutely not… I messed up Sector 1. I just had a little oversteer on the exit of [Turn] 1 just as I came on the throttle. It cost me easily one and a half tenths, and one and a half tenths today was easily P2."

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With the top five teams being equally matched, every minor mistake might cost a driver a few positions on the grid, which is precisely what happened to Norris.

"It’s frustrating and because of this I felt like I wanted to push a bit more – the wrong thing to do and then I paid the price again in Turn 4, another couple of mistakes."

The 24-year-old driver is considered one of the best on the grid, but he struggled with small mistakes during qualifying sessions in 2023, and it seems he didn't get rid of this problem going into 2024.

"The rest of the lap was there or thereabouts, but honestly, the car was easily good enough for a front row, so disappointed I didn't deliver it."

Nevertheless, the McLaren driver tends to be strong regarding tire management during the race. That is what will be important during the race on Saturday, so he can still fight his way up the grid. He added:

"But the team have done a great job, the car is feeling amazing so I’m happy with that; things have come together over the weekend, I just didn’t deliver, so a bit of a shame but I’ll try and make up for it tomorrow."