Randorris doesn’t understand that he’s still leading the driver’s championship after much hardship with McLaren, but says he’s confident he’ll perform well again once he finds a solution.
Oscar Piastri’s victory at Bahrain Granpuri closed him within three points of Norris at the top of the ranking, with Max Verstappen returning to third overall, scoring eight points from the lead. Norris finished third on Sunday behind Piastri and George Russell, but said he hasn’t stripped up any aggressive positivity from his championship position as he focuses on trying to be comfortable within the MCL39.
“That’s not my idea,” Norris said of holding his lead. “It should probably be the way I think, but that’s not the way I think. It was good to finish third, score more points on the board, maintain the championship and keep my race alive, but I’m not happy with the outcome.
“The third is not scary. I think the best thing I could do is the second. I mean, Hamilton, so many mistakes at the start made life difficult.
“I don’t have confidence, I’m not comfortable, I know what I can do, so I have to keep my head down and work hard. I know what I can achieve. It’s not gone. It’s just not clicking. They need to consider why they’re not clicking, but they haven’t proven that it’s too easy.”
Norris says there are several different paths to explore in Saudi Arabia this weekend, believing that the root of his problem is found.
“I think my race pace is fine. My race pace is good. It’s obviously my qualifying. I spent a lot of nights. I left late.
“We didn’t narrow down a few things, not clear or definitive answers, but some reasons why we’ve been struggling a little more here and there with qualifications, pace and things.
“But I know I can do it. I know I can go out and get the pole and win the race by the margin. But I don’t know what it is, not just something needs to be done.