Lando Norris has moved to temper expectations

Sakhir, Bahrain — Lando Norris has moved to temper expectations following a dominant showing by McLaren in Friday’s practice sessions at the Bahrain Grand Prix, where teammate Oscar Piastri led the timesheets in a commanding one-two finish for the Woking-based team.

Piastri topped the second session with a time 0.154 seconds quicker than Norris. Mercedes’ George Russell followed in third, 0.527 seconds adrift of the Australian, ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

Reigning world champion Max Verstappen, fresh off a victory in Japan, struggled to find pace in his Red Bull, finishing seventh and nearly nine-tenths off the lead. Lewis Hamilton, driving for Ferrari, trailed closely behind in eighth, 0.246 seconds slower than Verstappen.

Despite the strong showing, Norris was quick to dismiss any suggestion that McLaren holds a significant edge, suggesting the timing charts do not tell the full story.

“Everyone just looks at the timesheets,” Norris told reporters. “They have no idea who’s turning up the engine. That alone is worth about 0.35 seconds here. That immediately puts us back on par with Mercedes. So right now, I wouldn’t say we’re any quicker.”

Russell, however, had a different take, acknowledging McLaren’s apparent superiority, particularly in the circuit’s demanding middle sector.

“They’re a big step ahead,” said the Mercedes driver. “They’re miles ahead in the middle sector where tyre degradation is a factor. We’ve got work to do, but I think we’re in a battle for best of the rest — us, Ferrari, and Max.”

Unlike earlier races this season, Russell predicted the outcome in Bahrain would hinge less on qualifying and more on tyre management and race pace.

Ferrari debuted a new floor this weekend in hopes of narrowing the gap to the front. Leclerc said the update delivered as expected, while Hamilton added it was “definitely working.”

“It’s good to see progress,” said Hamilton. “We’re trying to extract more performance from it. Hopefully we can make the right adjustments overnight.”

Verstappen admitted he was unhappy with the performance of his Red Bull, citing a lack of grip and underwhelming long-run pace.

“The gap was quite massive,” Verstappen said. “The balance was okay, but we were just slow every lap. It wasn’t a lot of fun out there — felt like a bit of drift practice at the end.”

Even during race simulation runs, McLaren maintained a strong pace. Adjusted for fuel loads and engine modes, Norris averaged over two-tenths of a second per lap faster than Russell. Hamilton was a similar margin behind Russell, narrowly ahead of Verstappen. However, comparisons with Piastri and Leclerc were inconclusive due to their use of different tyre compounds.

Elsewhere, Mercedes prospect Andrea Kimi Antonelli impressed in fifth, followed by Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar. Briton Oliver Bearman continued to shine in his Haas, placing ninth ahead of Williams’ Carlos Sainz.

Friday’s sessions were largely incident-free, with teams already familiar with the Sakhir circuit after three days of pre-season testing.

McLaren also led the earlier practice session, with Norris edging out Alpine’s Pierre Gasly as several teams gave young drivers time behind the wheel.

The Bahrain Grand Prix continues through the weekend, with qualifying on Saturday and the race scheduled for 16:00 BST on Sunday. Live coverage is available via BBC Radio and online platforms.