McLaren secured a spot for “second or third” on the tight Bahrain F1 grid.

Max Verstappen of Red Bull led a very close qualifying fight in which Norris and Piastri demonstrated good one-lap pace.

Unfortunately, neither driver was able to put together their best laps in Q3, and as a result, they were demoted to seventh and eighth place, respectively. As the 2024 season gets going, any mistakes made during qualifying are becoming increasingly costly due to the narrow margins.

When asked about his compromised Q3 run, Norris said, “It was tricky,” in response to a question from Motorsport.com. Norris was still only 0.435 seconds behind polesitter Verstappen and just two tenths behind second-place Charles Leclerc.

“Perhaps the wind somewhat shifted. In Q3, it can make a significant difference to push a little bit more and see even slight changes in the situation, as it did for me.

“I was thrilled since the vehicle had a lot of potential and felt fantastic during qualifying. While I was doing some very excellent laps, my worst was the last one, which is usually not how you want things to go. However, the possibility existed.”

It wasn’t an insane Iap, so if I had just given it my best effort and finished in second or third place, I still think we should have done better. It’s really advantageous for us to have that.”

Piastri said that he also had a harder day than he had anticipated, but he also suggested McLaren shouldn’t be too down about its performance since the Bahrain opener last year.

“Today was a little more difficult for me with the car,” the Australian said. “I thought my final lap in Q3 went together a little better, but the vehicle is still not feeling very comfortable today.

“However, I believe that being third after one of those qualifying sessions and two tenths is a respectable start to the year, in my opinion. Without a doubt, we’re happier now than we were a year ago.”

Although some of the MCL38’s shortcomings become more noticeable at high fuel loads, McLaren still anticipates being competitive with the group of cars surrounding it, which includes Ferrari, Mercedes, and Aston Martin, when it comes to race pace.

However, with the small performance disparities between teams, the possibility of drivers becoming stranded in DRS trains will make strategy and tyre management even more important than pure speed.

“Qualifying has proven that the pace difference between a lot of cars is very small and I don’t expect that to change massively in the race,” Piastri stated.

“Achieving development won’t be simple. With the exception of Red Bull, who I believe will be stronger than usual in the race, I believe it to be true all the way up to the front.

We can advance; you can catch up on this track, and strategy plays a major role. We’re undoubtedly involved.