World · Malaysia Bureau
Norris attributes McLaren's qualifying struggles to Sepang track conditions
Lando Norris has cited the characteristics of Malaysia's Sepang circuit as a contributing factor to McLaren's competitive difficulties at the Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying session, where the British driver secured sixth position but found himself significantly adrift of frontrunners.
LSN Malaysia ·
McLaren faced an uphill battle during qualifying at the Bahrain Grand Prix, with Norris unable to bridge a substantial gap to the pace-setting teams despite his sixth-place finish on the grid.
The McLaren driver attributed the team's struggles to the differing track characteristics between Sepang in Malaysia and the Sakhir circuit in Bahrain, suggesting that setup configurations optimized for one venue proved suboptimal for another.
Norris acknowledged that McLaren lacked the outright pace required to challenge the leaders, a shortfall that he believes stemmed partly from the adjustment period needed when transitioning between different racing environments in the Asian racing calendar.
The qualifying result placed McLaren in a challenging position for race day, with Norris tasked with maximizing points from his mid-grid starting position. The team will look to assess its setup strategy and performance trajectory as the season progresses through the Asian-Pacific leg of the championship.