A tale of two drivers for McLaren as Piastri takes pole and Norris struggles with lost form in Bahrain

SAKHIR–A week out from having to manage podium pace from both drivers in the Japanese Grand Prix, McLaren has two drivers who couldn't be further apart in their outlook for Bahrain.

After Japan the question facing the team was if they could manage a championship battle involving both drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

Norris was second behind Verstappen, and Piastri had requested to swap positions to attempt an overtake on the Dutch driver.

The team kept the drivers in position, facing the dilemma of upsetting the order around the tight track versus a potential 1-2 standing in the drivers championship.

It was a measured approach from the team that allowed Norris to hold his lead and avert any mistakes in a driver swap, something the team was quick to assert in the days after the race and Piastri said he agreed with as an approach.

But a season with both Norris and Piastri potentially entering contention for the World Drivers' Championship title would be new ground for the team in the current era of F1, having to weigh up how much of a threat Max Verstappen posed each round.

That dynamic has been blown out of the water in Bahrain, with the hypotheticals from Japan proving to be a rash reaction, rampant speculation about a team that knows the value of its measured approach.

Ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix, the dynamic between the drivers could not be more different.

"I think the car all weekend has been in a good place," said Oscar Piastri after a blazing lap to claim pole position.

"I've just been off it. I feel like I've just never driven an F1 car before," said Lando Norris.

Despite posting the fastest time in the opening session of the weekend and narrowly following Piastri in the second and third practice sessions, Norris was dejected after his sixth-placed finish in qualifying.

"I was just slow. I've been slow this whole weekend to be honest," said Norris.

"I feel like I've just never driven an F1 car before. I'm struggling a lot. I don't know why. I need to try and find some answers.

"The car's amazing. I have nothing to complain about. The car, the team are doing an amazing job. Oscar's on pole by a good chunk.

"I'm thankful for the team, they're doing an amazing job, just I'm letting them down."

It's not as though Norris has been lacking in his performing for the team, with a superb recovery drive after sliding off the track in Melbourne to take victory in the season opener, before holding on for second behind his teammate in China.

His qualifying performance held him in good stead in Japan, maintaining second place around the narrow circuit behind Verstappen, displaying strong race management despite appearing slightly slower than his teammate.

After all, he comes into Bahrain with a one-point lead over four-time world champion Max Verstappen in the standings, with Verstappen also dealing with his own battles at Red Bull.

"McLaren are not my rivals right now. I am just taking part..." Verstappen told Motorsport.com.

Piastri and team boss Zak Brown both offered their support for Norris.

"It's going to be tight through the whole field," Piastri told Sky Sports.

"I'm obviously expecting Lando to come through."

"Tomorrow is a new day," Zak Brown told Sky.

"He's got a great race car, he's a great racing driver, he's leading the championship so just a fresh start, a good night's sleep. He just missed the first sector a bit and that just shows how competitive Formula 1 is.

It was very equal across the lap between the McLaren drivers despite being separated by five positions in the final order, with Norris just over four-tenths of a second behind while being faster through parts of the circuit, including turn four and the back straight.

But Norris was slightly down on overall speed from the first corner onwards, which Brown correctly attributed to his final deficit.

"You can definitely race around here so we just need a good start," said Brown.

"I think we'll have a couple of stops tomorrow, see if there are any safety cars, work some strategy and help him where we can but he's got a fast car underneath him."

"I just found a little bit of time everywhere and it was a very solid lap," said Piastri.

It was a solid lap, with the data over second-place George Russell showing that Piastri made up his margin in increments over the braking zones and tighter sections of the Bahrain circuit.

"After I saw him doing donuts in FP3, [George was closer than I was expecting]," said Piastri.

"I think the performance we had in FP3 was even a mystery to us and we knew everyone would get a lot closer. It's been kind of up and down for everybody.

"One session seems to be Charles [Leclerc] that's challenging us, then George. Max was quick at certain points. It seemed like everyone was peaking at different times."

Piastri is correct in his analysis that every team seems to be struggling to find their representative pace against the field. With Norris and Verstappen sharing their woes after qualifying, the only driver who has established a consistent baseline so far this year appears to be George Russell.

The Mercedes driver is fourth in the standings after successive third-place positions in Australia and China, fourth in the Chinese sprint race, and fifth in Japan, claiming the best of the rest in a gap of his own behind the lead trio of Norris, Verstappen, and Piastri, in an unheralded display of reliability.

But the pendulum swing at McLaren is what may translate to a shift in the championship standings.

"Let's see where he finishes first," said Piastri.

"Obviously, it's nice to be on pole, but... I think this is probably the first race so far where qualifying doesn't mean everything. I think it's obviously still important, but I'm expecting him to fight back tomorrow.

"I'll just try and make sure that I do the best job that I can, and wherever he ends up is where he ends up."

Piastri says the team is definitely not downplaying their dominance, as was the concern in Australia but has been slowly proven wrong as they have had to deal with challenges from Verstappen in the races since.

"From my side, I'm certainly not shying away from the fact we have the best car at the moment. I think to say otherwise is not correct. But it is difficult and the margins are still pretty tight. It doesn't take much of a mistake to lose one or two tenths, and that's been the gap more or less.

"At times we have looked very, very strong — like this morning, for example — but I think when everyone turns up for qualifying, we know that we still have to put our best foot forward.

"Like we saw in Japan, we didn't quite get the most out of the car, got pipped by Max. And today, Lando's not on the front row, so it's difficult, definitely.

"I certainly don't think we're fast enough to do whatever we want, but we do have a nice advantage at the moment that we're trying our best to make sure we continue to use week in, week out."

Piastri's confidence in the car and team is what makes Norris' self-doubt much starker in comparison, especially when the Brit echoes his comments praising the car and team.

"For myself, it's been a car that's been relatively straightforward to put consistent laps on the board and it's been quick as well, which is obviously the most important thing," said Piastri.

"I think I've felt comfortable the whole season so far with the car we've got, but this weekend has been another step forward on top of that, which I was able to show today."

Oscar Piastri will take his position at the front of the grid for the Bahrain Grand Prix at 1.00am AEST on Monday morning.

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