Lando Norris outlines where Red Bull could have edge in Bahrain
Lando Norris has detailed where he thinks Red Bull could have the upper hand in Bahrain.
Lando Norris has suggested that Red Bull could be the team to beat at the F1 Bahrain Grand Prix.
The McLaren driver chased Max Verstappen’s Red Bull for the entirety of last weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix but was forced to settle with second place behind his title rival, who converted his stunning pole position into victory.
It marked McLaren’s first defeat to Red Bull this season, after Norris and teammate Oscar Piastri shared the wins across the opening two rounds in Australia and China.
Verstappen’s first win of 2025 has moved him to within a point of Norris in the drivers’ championship standings heading into this weekend’s race in Bahrain.
And Norris expects Verstappen will be a threat once more, having conceded McLaren are struggling compared to Red Bull in low-speed corners.
“Our weakness was the slow-speed compared to them,” Norris said. “There’s a lot less high-speed [in Bahrain], so we’re kind of losing some of our strengths and we’re going more into our weaknesses.
“Clearly, they’re quick. I feel like between Oscar and myself, we got a lot out of the car [in qualifying]. It was probably a little bit more, yes, but both our theoretical [lap times] were not that far ahead.
“So Max is doing a good job and Red Bull seemed to maybe have caught up a little bit. But they’ve also not been that bad the whole season.
“When you look at Australia, he was fighting for a win. When you look at China, he wasn’t miles away. And this weekend he’s done very good. So I expect him to be challenging us every weekend.”
McLaren still have work to do
McLaren are still considered to have the outright fastest car, but Norris is convinced Red Bull have improved their RB21, despite their continued second driver struggles.
And the Briton stressed there is still room for McLaren to make progress.
“In high-speed [corners] we were very, very strong and I think definitely the strongest car out there,” he explained.
“In slow-speed we’re quite a chunk off the Red Bull, and that’s where we lost in qualifying. We lost again consistently in the race. So there’s a lot of areas we have to try to work on.”
McLaren sit 50 points clear of third-placed Red Bull in the constructors’ championship, with Mercedes holding second place, 36 points behind.
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