Despite McLaren locking out the top two spots in Friday’s practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix, Lando Norris insists their advantage may not be as big as it looks.
His teammate, Oscar Piastri, led the session with a time 0.154 seconds quicker than Norris, while Mercedes’ George Russell trailed by over half a second in third. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc followed, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen unusually down in seventh and Lewis Hamilton in eighth.
Still, Norris believes their strong showing was flattered by other teams running conservative engine modes.
“Everyone just looks at the timesheets,” Norris said. “They have no idea on who turns up the engine. That alone can be worth 0.35 seconds around here.”
Russell, however, believes McLaren have made a “big step ahead,” especially in the tyre-punishing middle sector, suggesting the team may be real contenders this weekend.
“We’re probably fighting for next best,” said Russell. “McLaren are a long way ahead right now.”
Meanwhile, Ferrari are hoping upgrades to their car – particularly a new floor – will help close the gap. Leclerc said it’s delivering “as expected,” while Hamilton noted encouraging progress, saying, “It’s good to see we’re taking steps forward.”
Verstappen was less upbeat, citing grip issues and calling his long run “drift practice.”
“The gap was massive,” he admitted. “Not a lot of fun out there today.”
Race simulations suggest McLaren’s advantage may be genuine, with Norris over 0.2 seconds per lap faster than Russell in comparable conditions. However, Piastri and Leclerc’s long runs, done on different tyres, remain hard to compare.
In an otherwise clean session, rising stars like Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes), Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls), and Oliver Bearman (Haas) also made their mark in the top 10.
With race pace and tyre wear expected to be more critical than qualifying this weekend, the Bahrain GP is shaping up to be an intriguing test of endurance, strategy, and speed — one where McLaren might just have the upper hand, despite Norris’ modesty.
