Red Bull showcased a striking redesign with its RB20, asserting its dominance in F1 with consistently rapid long runs during the recent Sakhir event.
Meanwhile, Ferrari drew attention with the improved stability and balance of its SF-24, addressing some of the pace struggles encountered in the 2023 season. Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz showcased impressive lap times, adding to the team’s promising performance.
Lando Norris expressed his belief that both Red Bull and Ferrari would outpace McLaren at the upcoming season-opener. Despite McLaren’s considerable progress and a stronger starting position compared to previous years, Norris acknowledged the substantial lead of their rivals.
“I do believe we’ve made significant strides forward,” Norris commented on Friday. “We’ve certainly improved many aspects.”
“However, the true measure of our progress relative to others remains uncertain. We’re in a favorable position, having ended last season with a decent car. We’ve undoubtedly made positive steps, but there’s still a considerable gap to close with Red Bull and Ferrari. We have much work ahead, but we’ve also gleaned valuable insights over the past few days to implement before the next race.”
McLaren’s MCL38 faced minor technical glitches during testing, limiting Norris to 145 laps over three days. Although a reasonable figure, it fell short compared to his counterparts.
Norris downplayed the setbacks, stating, “While we encountered a few hiccups over the past days, they’re not catastrophic. Of course, you always aim for flawless performance, but we’ve managed to gather crucial data nonetheless.”
“We missed out on some long-running sessions, which was less than ideal. However, we’ve learned extensively from the experience and achieved much of what we set out to do. Overall, I’m satisfied, although there are a few minor adjustments I wish we could’ve made.”
