Lando Norris was relatively neutral after practice in Bahrain, although he seems to have a fair read of the 2024 pecking order.
McLaren was slightly more understated than its rivals in Bahrain practice. The Woking-based team showed signs of promise, although Lando Norris is aware of the strength across the field.
The MCL38 was one of the first cars to flex its muscles in FP1.
Both drivers finished the session in the top 3, albeit on the soft compound and behind RB’s Daniel Ricciardo.
Relative to the other top teams, McLaren’s advantage on the softs was relatively underwhelming.
With that said, making any conclusions about the MCL38 would be premature.
Instead, analysis at this stage is treated more like an exercise of observation.
With this caveat out of the way, some might have expected more from Andrea Stella’s team so far in Sakhir.
Piastri finished FP2 four tenths behind the W15 of Lewis Hamilton. For a team that finished 2023 marginally ahead of the German suppliers, this is a small step backwards.
Given they share the same engine, it seems reasonable to infer some gap in performance between the two teams.
The race simulations seemed more competitive, though. Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris largely matched Mercedes and Ferrari on their soft run.
Norris anticipates a close battle
Following the first day of running, Norris outlined which team revealed some of its true pace for the first time:
“I think it’s still clear that Red Bull are towards the top, Ferrari are close and Mercedes were always the question mark.
“They were never going to be bad. It always gets closer, especially in qualifying.
“Even the Haas is up there, and they apparently didn’t change their car at all!
“It’s always close in qualifying here in Bahrain. So I think it’s going to be a tricky qualifying no matter what.”
It seems reasonable to outline that, up until yesterday, Mercedes was the biggest unknown on the grid.
Free Practice surely changed this fact, although there are still plenty of questions about the W15’s full potential.
The narrative after pre-season was that Ferrari were Red Bull’s closest challengers.
This conclusion might still be correct, although the margins between the top 5 teams are almost too close to call.
Operational execution from the teams and driver ability are set to be huge difference-makers.
