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Norris encouraged by McLaren speed compared to Red Bull and Ferrari

Norris encouraged by McLaren speed compared to Red Bull and Ferrari

08-04-2019 08:06
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Bobby Vincent

Lando Norris is impressed with the way McLaren performed last weekend, as he recorded a sixth-place finish in Bahrain.

It was just Norris' second race of his Formula 1 career and a first ever points-finish for the young Briton. In Melbourne, Norris managed a P12 finish for the Woking-based side.

Norris finished a couple of places behind Max Verstappen in his Red Bull and the same amount ahead of Pierre Gasly, to record the "best of the rest" status for the British team.

"After reviewing Australia, we knew we could get points (in Bahrain)," the 19-year-old revealed. "We managed to beat a Red Bull now on pure pace. And even compared to (Sebastian) Vettel, he passed me and then he didn't pull away that much.

"I think our pace on some tracks, here was obviously much better than it was in Australia in terms of relative pace between Mercedes, Ferrari to last place. So, I think from that side of things it's made the racing a lot more fun.

"It was a good, fun race and we just hope we can be in these positions later on in the season."

Vettel finished in P5, a place above Norris, with the German's Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc securing a third-place finish for his maiden podium finish.