Lando Norris surprised by F1 points lead: ‘I’m not comfortable, I’m not happy’

Lando Norris has admitted he’s surprised to be leading the F1 drivers’ championship, revealing that “something isn’t clicking” with McLaren’s 2025 challenger despite a strong start to the season in terms of results.

Norris recovered from sixth on the grid to finish third at the Bahrain International Circuit.

Even though McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri won the race, Norris remains top of the drivers’ standings.

Heading into next weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Norris is three points ahead of Piastri.

Despite topping the standings, Norris is far from “comfortable” or “happy” at the moment.

Reflecting on his season to Sky Sports after the race in Bahrain, Norris said: “Honestly, I am surprised I am achieving what I am achieving at the minute with how I feel in the car.

“Like I said yesterday, I am not comfortable, I am not happy. I am not feeling good. To be getting these results that I am getting at the minute I am still quite surprised by it.”

Norris was hard on himself after qualifying, stating that he feels like he’s never driven an F1 car amid his struggles with the MCL39.

Expanding on his difficulties this year, Norris said: “Just something isn’t clicking. I don’t have an answer so I can’t give a good explanation. When you’re a driver and things just aren’t clicking and aren’t coming together, it’s just difficult.

“Not difficult because I don’t have the speed or the pace or whatever. I know I’ve got all of that. I am confident that I have all of those things. It’s just for some reason I am not able to show it and just not able to drive in a way that I want.

“The speed is just not flowing. It’s complicated. I don’t have the answers now. We have a lot of work to do as a team to understand these things as I am still confident I can do a great job and considering how I feel so for me to have a win, a P2, and some of these results, I am surprised by how bad I feel. Just work to do.

“I will keep my head down and keep working hard. That’s all I can do for now.”

Lando Norris’ error-strewn Bahrain GP

Norris endured an error-strewn Bahrain Grand Prix.

He picked up a five-second time penalty for a false start on the opening lap of the race.

Norris then fell behind Lewis Hamilton following the Safety Car restart.

He also locked up when running behind Charles Leclerc.

Norris felt his pace was “pretty strong” but was honest that his mistakes were unacceptable.

“Mixed. My goal for today was P2 and I was P3. I mean it was a good race,” Norris added.

“I think my recoveries every time from the mistakes that were made were good. With a five-second time penalty and having to let Hamilton go that one time. I paid the price. Mistakes I shouldn’t make in the first place but the pace was pretty strong otherwise.

“It’s always difficult to say when you’re in dirty air and other things. Difficult. Positive that I got some points and the negative is that I didn’t achieve what I should have achieved.”