Formula 1 world champion Lando Norris was disappointed with McLaren's performance in qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix at the “Sepang“ track.
The Briton set the sixth fastest time, six tenths of a second behind Max Verstappen, who won pole position. Norris, however, will start fifth due to the penalty of Isaac Hajjar, who was sanctioned and will start from eighth position instead of third.
Norris frankly commented on the problems with his car after qualifying.
“We are just slow. The car is not good enough here“, said the McLaren driver.
According to him, the characteristics of the track have had a serious impact on the distribution of forces between the teams.
“This track is very different from many others we have been to this year. That is why I think Mercedes are struggling more and Red Bull is faster than usual. The forces will change a little. "We're struggling more than we expected because of the surface," Norris explained.
The Briton was pleased with his final qualifying lap and felt he got the most out of his car. However, he admitted that McLaren has a serious speed deficit.
„It's clear we're off the pace. My car is losing speed on the straights and we've been lacking pace all weekend. So starting from fifth place is no surprise. We don't expect any miracles and obviously Red Bull is in a league of its own here," he added.
His teammate Oscar Piastre qualified seventh, but due to Hajjar's penalty he will start sixth, just behind Norris.
“It wasn't quite the session we wanted. We're struggling a bit with the pace here, but overall I was pretty happy with my performance," said Piastre.
The Australian added that McLaren will have to rely heavily on strategy in the race.
“Another tenth of a second would have been good for us. Unfortunately, we just weren't fast enough. It's going to be a race where we can do a lot with strategy and then hopefully find the pace we need,“ said Piastre.