Norris says McLaren's lead in testing was illusory: "I don't think the others gave it their all."

Once again, the McLaren were impressive on Friday during the first two Free Practice sessions of the weekend in Bahrain. Lando Norris was the fastest in FP1, whileOscar piastri responded by setting the fastest time in FP2 in the Bahraini night, ahead of his teammate. All this with a spectacular lead: the Australian was five tenths faster than the first non-McLaren car, the Mercedes by George Russell. And yet, Lando Norris was not entirely satisfied with his day after these two sessions.

"It was not an easy day, we had to readjust to the reality of Bahrain, to its difficulties, which makes things difficult, testified the championship leader after Free Practice 2, Friday evening. Sunday will be exciting because the deterioration is incredible compared to [winter] testing. It's a bit weird because everything looks terrible, but I think our pace is relatively good. I think it was a reasonable Friday. (…) I think it's the conditions that make all the difference. It's just the temperature, it's hot, it's windy… The temperature makes a big difference. It's the same challenge for everyone."

Will McLaren and Norris finally tame Bahrain?

Historically, since the introduction of the current technical regulations in 2022, McLaren has always struggled at the Sakhir circuit (only 12 points in the last three Grands Prix). A circuit that is very demanding on the rear axle, the main weakness of the car British in recent years. However, in 2025, the MCL39 seems to have corrected the flaws of its predecessor, and the promises shown during winter testing on this same track in February seem to be confirmed this weekend for the Bahrain Grand Prix. However, according to Lando Norris, it is impossible to correlate the data collected during pre-season testing as the climatic conditions are so different, with high temperatures currently in Manama.