Source: REUTERS/HAMAD I MOHAMMED
[Saba Sports News] In the qualifying session of the Bahrain Grand Prix, Oscar Piastri of the McLaren F1 team won the team’s first pole position in the history of the Bahrain Grand Prix, but Lando Norris performed poorly, only securing the sixth position. In a post-race interview, Norris poured a bucket of cold water on the paddock: “Don’t be deceived by the lap times!” Norris bluntly said that the driving experience in practice and qualifying sessions made all drivers struggle, and even revealed that the Mercedes team is the hidden king of the track. Under the scorching conditions of 45 degrees Celsius, Norris described the drastic change in track conditions with “testing was like a dream, today was a nightmare.” According to some analysts, the McLaren MCL39 car encountered unprecedented tire degradation in high temperatures, with single-lap speed fluctuations as high as 0.4 seconds. Although Piastri made the fastest lap, engineers found that the rear tire wear of the car was abnormal in long-distance simulation, which is in stark contrast to the tire management advantage shown in the first three stations. In response, some experts pointed out that in the actual race, the real speed of the McLaren car may only be 0.3 seconds faster than the Mercedes car.