Lando Norris says he doesn’t perceive how he’s nonetheless main the drivers’ championship after struggling a lot together with his McLaren, however is assured he’ll carry out at his finest once more as soon as he finds options.
Oscar Piastri’s victory within the Bahrain Grand Prix closed him to inside three factors of Norris on the prime of the standings, with Max Verstappen slipping again to 3rd place total and eight factors off the lead. Norris completed third on Sunday behind Piastri and George Russell, and stated he doesn’t take the positives out of his championship place as he focuses on making an attempt to get comfy throughout the MCL39.
“That’s not how I believe,” Norris stated of retaining his lead. “It in all probability must be how I believe, nevertheless it’s not how I believe. To complete third, to get some extra factors on the board, to maintain the championship and simply my race alive was a superb factor, however I’m not completely happy concerning the outcome.
“Third’s not horrendous. I believe the very best I might have completed is second. I simply made my life too tough with too many errors with the beginning, with the [Lewis] Hamilton factor. So, I’m stunned. Everybody says I’m main the championship, I don’t know the way on the minute! So I’m fairly stunned.
“I simply must maintain my head down and maintain working arduous as a result of I’m not assured, I’m not comfy, and I do know what I can do. I do know what I can obtain. It’s not gone, I’ve not misplaced it. It’s simply issues aren’t clicking and I must by some means look into why they’re not clicking, nevertheless it’s not proving to be too straightforward.”
Norris says he has just a few completely different avenues to discover this weekend in Saudi Arabia in relation to his qualifying tempo, believing that’s the place the basis of his issues are to be discovered.
“I believe my race tempo is ok. My race tempo is sweet. It’s clearly a bit extra my qualifying. I went by means of rather a lot [on Saturday] night time. I left late. I spent numerous time making an attempt to look into what occurred, why I struggled a lot, why I’m not feeling assured.
“I suppose we type of narrowed down to some issues, not possibly clear solutions and definitive solutions, however just a few causes of why possibly I’ve been struggling a bit extra right here and there with my qualifyings and the tempo and stuff.
“However I do know what I’m able to doing. I do know I can exit and get poles and I can win races by good margins. However one thing’s not simply doing what it ought to, and I don’t know what that’s. I must get again residence and get working with my workforce and see what we are able to uncover.”