Lando Norris admits overtaking hesitance in Bahrain

Lando Norris

Norris admits overtaking hesitance in Bahrain

Still a nice run to P6.

Matthew Scott

Monday 1 April 2019 14:04

Lando Norris enjoyed a highly successful run to sixth place at the Bahrain Grand Prix, despite admitting he was too hesitant in overtaking at Sakhir. Norris made moves on Pierre Gasly, and Kimi Raikkonen, among others, in the race but said he had held back on other occasions.

Only Fernando Alonso has secured a better result than sixth for McLaren since 2015, with a clutch of fifth-place finishes.

Norris once again made Q3, as he did in Australia, but the race ran much better than Melbourne – where Norris finished 12th – as the Brit secured a solid points haul in just his second F1 race.

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"Obviously it was much better than Australia, which is a good thing, a good amount of points for sixth," Norris said.

"Even with going through the gravel a bit at the start, still managing to get back to P6, I'm very happy.

"The pace, especially in the first stint, was very good. I think I could have been a bit more attacking. I was a bit soft sometimes into Turn 1. I could have gone for an overtake, but I didn't want to risk a lock-up or something silly because I knew I had pace.

Yes! Sixth. SIXTH! Really happy. First points for me but the team deserves it all, everyone out here and everyone back at the factory have put in a tonne of hard work. The car has potential and it’s good to get some coins in the kitty ? pic.twitter.com/ujR7MYo7LK
— Lando Norris (@LandoNorris) April 1, 2019

"It was fun, much more fun than Australia. I managed to get past some drivers this time through overtaking rather than just being lucky. It was much more enjoyable, and much better for myself and the team."

McLaren have displayed impressive pace so far in 2019, with both Norris and Carlos Sainz making Q3 in Bahrain, although the Spaniard failed to see the chequered flag for the second race in a row.

"I think between qualifying and the race it was definitely one of our strongest for some time.

"There's a lot of work to do to be constantly here and beating the midfield guys. But our race seemed better than anticipated because we thought we were better in qualifying trim than we were going to be today."