McLaren “not miles away” from F1 rival Mercedes, Red Bull

McLaren finished third in last year’s constructors’ championship and the Woking team should confirm its status as the best remainder behind Red Bull and Mercedes in 2021.

While McLaren drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Norris qualified in Bahrain in sixth and seventh place, behind a Ferrari and an AlphaTauri, Norris worked his way up to fourth place as the best driver who did not drive for one of the two top teams before.

When asked by Autosport if the 2021 season opener confirmed that McLaren were at the top in midfield, Norris said it was “hard to tell” whether the team is the best of the rest, but was encouraged by the fact that McLaren closer to Red Bull and Mercedes than last year.

“We’re close, we’re not miles away from Mercedes and Red Bull compared to last season,” replied Norris.

“I think we’ve closed the gap pretty much and hopefully closed even more on some tracks.

“It’s hard to say if we’re the best by far. I don’t know what the AlphaTauri’s pace was like, but I think the car is good.”

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL35M, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF21

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Norris qualified behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, but after a two-lap scramble in the early stages, he was able to pass the Monegasken at Turn 1 and then drove away comfortably.

AlphaTauri’s racing pace is little known as Pierre Gasly hit Ricciardo in the back from fifth on the grid on lap one, but his rookie team-mate Yuki Tsunoda showed that the Faenza team has potential as they drive from 13th to ninth .

Norris expects McLaren’s battle with Ferrari and AlphaTauri to “go back and forth” throughout the season but was confident that McLaren’s racing pace would be superior to Ferrari’s in Bahrain.

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“Yeah, I think we knew that from the runs in FP2 and the test we did here,” explained Norris.

“I think we have an understanding of what [Ferrari] can do.

“Charles was ahead of us in qualifying last year and the Ferrari can be very quick in qualifying.

“During the races they seemed to be struggling.

“I think we were just a lot faster in pace, which was good, but there will probably be some races where you can be more careful with the tires and be a lot faster.

“It’s going to go back and forth between us and Ferrari and at AlphaTauri it seems pretty close between us, so I’m looking forward to the fight.”