Lando Norris says McLaren are “a long way off the pace” after tough Malaysia qualifying

By Vancouver Television Sports Desk

Lando Norris conceded that McLaren are “struggling” in Malaysia as they prepare for the Bahrain Grand Prix after a difficult qualifying at the Sepang International Circuit. The reigning world champion qualified outside the top five in P6, behind Red Bull’s Verstappen, and admitted the gap to the pace-setter was significant.

Norris said McLaren’s problem was clear on pace. “There’s not a lot I can do about that. I can only be satisfied with my own job. Yes, we’re a long way off the pace but it’s just the way it is. [The] car is struggling,” he said. He also pointed to what he described as a surprise in how competitive the Red Bulls looked across the weekend, while noting he expected Mercedes to be quicker.

The Briton emphasized that, despite the team’s overall deficit, he felt he executed his qualifying lap correctly. He put the performance question primarily on the car, adding: “But my lap was good. So from my side, in terms of putting my sectors together, putting my best lap together, I certainly did that on the final lap. A long way off, but from my own performance, I feel like I did a good job today.”

Norris’s sixth-place qualifying position was affected by his team’s starting preparation as well as a grid penalty elsewhere. With Isack Hadjar set to receive a five-place penalty for an engine change, Norris will start the race in the P5 grid slot. The penalty means Norris’s finishing position on the grid improves despite the pace deficit shown in qualifying.

When asked about what Sunday could look like, Norris suggested that race factors such as weather and tyre degradation could play a meaningful role. He refused to make firm predictions, saying there is “a lot to play for,” while also stressing that his team remains about six tenths off the pace to Verstappen. “It’ll be a tough race,” he said, describing it as “a new one” for McLaren because he does not believe the team has faced degradation levels as high as those expected this time.

Norris also highlighted a specific performance concern that could be decisive over a long race at Sepang. “My car is still slow on the straights for some reason so it’s still going to be a tough race for me,” he said, framing the race as one that could contain “a lot of opportunities” while acknowledging the likely difficulty in closing the gap early.

The session was also challenging for Oscar Piastri. He qualified P7, just behind Norris, and said he did not get the final lap exactly right. “It was tricky out there for sure. I think my last lap I went through Turn 2 and didn’t have a whole lot of grip so I need to understand what happened there,” Piastri said. He added that, aside from that issue, the session was generally solid but ultimately “we’re not fast enough yet.”

Piastri indicated that McLaren’s prospects may depend on whether race pace allows them to respond to what he saw around the field. “It’s going to be tough. I think our long run pace did look pretty good yesterday, but the others around didn’t look bad. We’ll have to wait and see what we can do, but I think it’s going to be a challenging afternoon,” he said as he assessed their ability to take the fight to rivals ahead in Bahrain Grand Prix racing at Malaysia’s Sepang circuit.