06 March 2023 , 15:44
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Lando Norris remains optimistic for the rest of the Formula 1 season despite a disastrous start for his McLaren team.
The 23-year-old was forced to retire from the Bahrain Grand Prix with two laps to go, after suffering from a pneumatic power unit issue throughout the race. Norris began to see issues with his MCL60 in the opening lap which led to him making a total of six pit stops.
But the weekend wasn't a total write-off for the Brit. He showed promising signs during Saturday evening's qualifying session – making it through to Q2 by the skin of his teeth by setting the exact same time as Logan Sargeant before only narrowly missing out on Q3 by two-tenths of a second, qualifying P11.
It was a positive sign considering the speculation after pre-season testing was that the McLarens would struggle. Chief executive Zak Brown admitted development targets were missed and so the team is starting this new season on the back foot, in terms of car performance.
Speaking to the media after qualifying, Norris said: "It was a tenth and a half to [Lance] Stroll, who's clearly much quicker – where I am is where I think we kind of are. I'm happy with it, I think a little bit better than maybe I was expecting from where we were in the test."
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However, despite encouraging signs from the McLaren earlier in the weekend, car issues ended their points hopes in the race itself. In his own typical style, Norris made light of his situation by telling reporters: "The main thing was good pit stop practice for the mechanics."
Lando Norris made light of McLaren's struggles during the Bahrain GP (Getty Images)He added: "We just had an issue, if we get rid of the issue everything should be fine." To compound the team's woes, McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri was also forced to retire from the race with an electrical problem after just 13 laps.
But despite the problems for the McLaren drivers, Norris still believes he and Piastri will have the opportunity to score points in the coming races. He said: "We obviously still believe we can still score points with the car we have which makes us more optimistic for the season."
Piastri said of his own car issue: "Just a few things flashing up on the dash that were a bit unexpected. But then it started messing with the gear shifts and stuff like that. We thought it was the steering wheel based on what was happening, but it wasn't that, so we'll diagnose what was wrong."