Australian Daniel Ricciardo and his McLaren teammate Lando Norris had a race to forget with both drivers finishing well below their expectations at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
After finishing fourth in the constructors’ championship in 2021, McLaren were one of the teams predicted to challenge the front-runners this year.
Ricciardo, who came into the Bahrain event after a battle with COVID-19 which kept him out of the final pre-season testing, finished 14th while Norris wasn’t any better, coming in 15th after qualifying 13th.
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While the Australian finished slightly better than his 18th place in qualifying, he at one stage had slipped to the very back of the pack, and from that moment it was clear he was in for a difficult race.
“We knew it was going to be a tricky race,” Ricciardo said.
“I remember in Turn 6 or 7 in the chicane, from memory I saw some smoke and then I saw Lando, I think, go to the left and cut off track.
“So my initial instinct was to follow him because I thought maybe there was a car spun in the middle of the track so I did that. I still don’t know if there was a car in the middle of the track but then I remember two or three cars passing me.
“It lost me positions but I don’t know if I could have done anything better at the time or at least I didn’t feel it was safe to. The race was tricky.
“There was definitely a lot to understand.”
It was a step back for the Australian and his teammate after McLaren performed strongly during the Barcelona pre-season test.
However, today’s result for McLaren continues a worrying trend, after brake overheating issues plagued Norris during the Bahrain pre-season test last week.
McLaren also appeared to get its gamble wrong by giving its drivers medium rubber despite the rest of the field opting for softs.
“A lot of things happened, none good. Just a long race .. we’re just a long way off the pace,” said Norris.
“That makes everything way too difficult for the tyre saving. The pace, you want to push and keep up with someone … we just have a lot of work to do quite simply.
“There’s not a lot to say.”
Former Formula 1 World Champion Damon Hill said he was shocked with McLaren’s result today.
“I was really surprised, they looked so good in Barcelona and they didn’t look too bad here,” Hill said on Sky Sports.
“They had the brake problems and it’s all unravelled from there. He’s trying to say something positive, but he just can’t think of what to say.”
Meanwhile, reigning champion Max Verstappen came away without any points in the first race of his title defence.
Verstappen retired right near the end on Lap 54 of the 57-lap race.
That result for Red Bull allowed Ferrari to claim a 1-2 finish with Charles Leclerc winning and teammate Carlos Sainz coming in at second.
Third place went to seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton after Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez also retired late.
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