'A fascinating contrast between team-mates and title contenders'

Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

Venue: Jeddah Corniche Circuit Dates: 18-20 April Race start: 18:00 BST connected Sunday

Coverage: Live power commentary of believe and qualifying online and BBC 5 Sports Extra; title unrecorded connected BBC Radio 5 Live. Live matter updates connected nan BBC Sport website and app

Lando Norris says "something is conscionable not clicking" betwixt him and his McLaren car truthful acold this season.

The Briton still leads nan title aft finishing 3rd successful nan Bahrain Grand Prix connected Sunday. But his team-mate Oscar Piastri's accomplished, ascendant triumph - nan Australian's 2nd triumph successful 4 races truthful acold this play - moved him to wrong 3 points of nan Briton.

Mathematically, Piastri is still suffering from nan twists of destiny successful nan first title of nan play successful Australia.

There, some McLaren drivers ran disconnected nan way astatine nan aforesaid clip successful a precocious ablution of rain. But Norris' rotation allowed him to proceed connected to victory, while Piastri became stuck connected nan bedewed grass, had to reverse backmost connected to nan track, and trailed location successful ninth place.

On balance, though, Piastri has been nan much convincing McLaren driver this twelvemonth - turning nan tables connected their shape done 2024 - and Norris knows it. But for now, he is not judge what to do astir it.

"I wish I knew nan answer," Norris said. "I don't person an answer, honestly.

"When you're an athlete, erstwhile you're a driver, you conscionable cognize erstwhile things click, erstwhile you consciousness confident, erstwhile you consciousness comfortable.

"I'm assured that I person everything I request and I've sewage what it takes. I person nary uncertainty astir that - that I'm bully enough, and each of those things.

"But something's conscionable not clicking pinch maine and nan car. I'm not capable to do immoderate of nan laps for illustration I was doing past season.

"Then, I knew each azygous corner, everything that was going to hap pinch nan car, really it was going to happen. I felt connected apical of nan car.

"This year, I could not person felt much other truthful far. Even successful Australia, whether aliases not I won nan race, I ne'er felt comfortable, ne'er felt confident."

The alteration successful nan equilibrium of powerfulness astatine McLaren arsenic a consequence has been stark.

In 2024, Piastri out-qualified Norris only 4 times connected merit each twelvemonth - and only erstwhile successful nan last 16 races of nan twelvemonth - and nan Briton's mean gait advantage was 0.147 seconds a lap.

This season, Piastri is 3-2 up retired of each 5 qualifying sessions, including nan sprint successful China, and nan Australian has connected mean been 0.185secs quicker.

And qualifying up tends to lead to amended title results.

The opposition was very overmuch connected show successful Bahrain.

Norris fumbled his qualifying thigh and lined up sixth connected nan grid. He recovered to 3rd spot but admitted that excessively galore mistakes had prevented him from beating Mercedes' George Russell to second.

Piastri, by contrast, was flawless successful taking rod and a controlled, calm triumph successful which nan destiny of nan title ne'er seemed successful doubt.

Piastri group himself nan target this twelvemonth of much consistently reaching his maximum potential, which he felt he had only accessed astatine times successful 2024. And truthful acold he has achieved his ambition.

Combining accordant velocity pinch nan intelligence solidity and racing decisiveness he has ever shown makes Piastri a formidable rival who, psychologically astatine least, will beryllium a reliable seed to crack.

As McLaren squad main Andrea Stella put it successful Bahrain: "There's nary sound successful Oscar's head, which is simply a very useful characteristic successful Formula 1, and I deliberation this allows him to progress, to process information, to process what's disposable successful nan situations arsenic a measurement of improving himself astatine a very accelerated rate."

In Norris' head, by contrast, location is noise. While Piastri keeps a very moreover keel, and gives nan belief of being unflappable, Norris wears his bosom connected his sleeve, and lives his failings publicly.

Which is not to opportunity that it affects Norris' performance. As Norris puts it himself, this is conscionable really he is. "When I do my interviews and whatever," he says, "a batch of it is astir apt conscionable getting my vexation out. It's conscionable because of not achieving what I want to achieve. It's because of my desire to do good and my ambition to win."

But it does make for a fascinating opposition betwixt nan 2 McLaren team-mates and now title contenders.

According to Stella, this is not a weakness successful Norris.

"There is thing important here," Stella says, "which is thing I respect of Lando, and makes maine very privileged and fortunate arsenic a squad principal, that he tends to sorb and constituent nan blasted connected himself.

"Like yesterday, Q3, he didn't put nan thigh together, he raises his hand. Offloading wholly nan squad from like, you guys, not your problem, it was me."

Stella adds that Norris taking nan blasted connected himself is "inaccurate".

"We cognize that we person made immoderate changes to nan car, which made Lando's life a spot much difficult," Stella says.

"We cognize technically what this is, Lando is adapting to this. Somehow perchance it mightiness person played a spot much connected Oscar's end, and we are moving together to hole it."

Essentially, nan McLaren car is not giving Norris nan feedback he needs for him to spot its beforehand extremity erstwhile he is trying to return it to nan limit successful qualifying. Because it is unpredictable for him, he is uncovering it difficult to consistently replicate eventual thigh times.

Piastri, pinch a different driving style, is not being affected successful nan aforesaid way.

Stella says location is thing different successful Norris' guidance to not emotion astatine 1 pinch his car than pinch his erstwhile charges, Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso, some of whom he worked pinch astatine Ferrari earlier moving to McLaren for 2015.

"I've seen various aggregate world champions," Stella said. "I person not seen immoderate of them that erstwhile location is simply a business whereby you would for illustration to do thing pinch nan car but nan car doesn't do precisely what you would like, they are wholly comfortable.

"It is an uncomfortable situation, but nan measurement Lando is navigating done this situation, from a important constituent of view, is nan aforesaid arsenic different champions that I've seen successful nan past."

McLaren are moving connected method changes to reside Norris' issues, but it is not yet known publically erstwhile they will arrive, nor of people really effective they will be.

It is adding an extra, unexpected twist to a title conflict that astatine slightest truthful acold seems to beryllium slow processing into an soul 1 betwixt nan 2 McLaren drivers.

"For myself," Piastri said, "I've been comfortable - particularly this play - successful what nan car's been capable to do. And I deliberation nan team's been doing a awesome job.

"But it's still truthful early. At nan infinitesimal we've sewage a awesome car underneath us. I consciousness for illustration for nan astir portion we've been capable to do a bully occupation pinch it.

"I deliberation location are going to beryllium different contenders. And I deliberation arsenic agelong arsenic we person nan champion car, it's going to beryllium tight betwixt Lando and I."