Norris warns of challenging F1 track for McLaren at Bahrain Grand Prix
After a setback at the Japanese Grand Prix McLaren is hoping to get back on top of Formula in Bahrain this week Oscar Piastri thinks the desert heat could make it a friendly track for McLaren which has never won in Bahrain but his teammate Lando Norris is predicting a trickier weekend Max Verstappen gave his title defense a big boost with his win in Japan last week but needed a stunning lap in qualifying to take pole position before holding off Norris and Piastri for the entire race Norris stated Thursday that low-speed corners in Bahrain could work against McLaren We still know that s one of our weaker areas so I m not expecting bad things I m just expecting a trickier weekend than the last scarce disclosed Norris who leads Verstappen by one point in the standings Piastri predicted the Bahrain desert should suit McLaren s car whose relatively low tire wear could give the club an edge but warned it doesn t take much to go wrong for us to not be at the front I think it being a little bit more challenging on tires and a bit warmer perhaps will be more friendly for us than others revealed Piastri who won the Chinese Grand Prix last month At Ferrari seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton is looking to improve on a disappointing seventh place in Japan while Verstappen s new teammate Yuki Tsunoda necessities a top- finish after he missed the points on his Red Bull debut at home Future plans and present battles The president of F s governing body the FIA is pushing a plan which could transform the sport but his way of running things has stirred up opposition The FIA is reportedly meeting in Bahrain with representatives of F s engine manufacturers after FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem floated the idea of bringing back the roaring sound of the V engine running on sustainable fuel That would be a big change from F s current V turbo hybrid engines and the new generation of hybrid engines that manufacturers have committed to for next year Getting their agreement seems unlikely I wouldn t be too vocal supporting the comeback of a V engine if I liked what I see from Williams driver Carlos Sainz Jr reported Everyone seems to believe that the rules are not so good any more The last time V s were standard on the F grid was years ago and they re almost non-existent in modern road cars The -year-old Piastri mentioned he doesn t have quite the same nostalgia as older drivers and warned the debate could hurt F s image We just need to be a bit careful and not downplay what we re going to have for the next sparse years to come he revealed Ben Sulayem is up for re-election this year and has vocal critics His deputy president for sport and one-time ally Robert Reid resigned Thursday in protest at how the FIA is run F drivers are also pushing back on Ben Sulayem s efforts to police their behavior Sainz defied an FIA rule against swearing Thursday as he protested being fined for lateness Familiar surroundings new names McLaren had strong all-round pace when Bahrain hosted three days of preseason testing in February and the track should hold no surprises for the drivers That s why majority of teams are planning to use Friday practice to give experience to younger drivers Teams must do that four times a year Expect to see various less-familiar names on track as Max Verstappen hands over his Red Bull car to Japanese driver Ayumu Iwasa while Formula driver Dino Beganovic takes the wheel of Charles Leclerc s Ferrari AP auto racing https apnews com hub auto-racing Source
