Norris said McLaren was far off pace after qualifying sixth in Malaysia

Lando Norris said McLaren was “a long way off the pace” after qualifying sixth for the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia on October 3, 0.6 seconds behind Max Verstappen. McLaren had fallen behind both Ferraris and Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli in qualifying. Norris was due to start fifth, however, after third-placed qualifier Isack Hadjar was set to receive a five-place penalty for an engine change.

Norris said he had put his final lap together well and could be satisfied with his own work. Red Bull’s speed over the weekend had surprised him, while he had expected Mercedes to be quicker. He wondered whether the tarmac was making McLaren struggle more than he had expected.

Oscar Piastri qualified seventh. He said he lost grip at Turn 2 on his final lap and did not get the lap he wanted, but described the session as decent overall. Piastri also said McLaren’s long-run pace had looked good the previous day, although the other cars around them had not looked bad either.

With the race due the following day, Norris was reluctant to predict how it would unfold, pointing to the weather and tyre degradation. He expected a difficult afternoon and said he did not think they had faced such high degradation earlier in the year, while still seeing opportunities over the long race.