Lando Norris is frustrated by the Sepang power unit issue that left him only sixth on the grid for Sunday’s Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia. Norris set a 1m35.757s on Saturday, six tenths off Red Bull’s Max Verstappen on pole, and just 0.005s clear of team-mate Oscar Piastri in seventh.
This update is from 3 October 2026. Little has changed since qualifying. McLaren’s car still loses ground exactly where Sepang punishes it most: on the long straights.
Existing sections in order
Norris felt he got the most from his final run on Saturday. “I felt like my lap was very strong,” he said. The problem, though, runs deeper than one lap. “It’s tough. I’m happy because I’m still struggling a lot in the straights everywhere,” he added.
He explained exactly where the time disappears. “I’m just down on every single straight, so every time I get a good exit, I’m just slower at the end of the straight,” Norris said. He feels it’s costing him a position he deserves. “It just hurts seeing this every single time. I should be higher up, not because I could have done a better job necessarily, but just because we’re not getting everything out of the car that we need to,” he said.
Team-mate Oscar Piastri, who qualified seventh, took a steadier view based on Friday’s long runs rather than Saturday’s one-lap pace. “We looked reasonable in the long runs yesterday, but our runs were slightly shorter than everyone else,” he said. “So for the amount of laps we did, it looks quite good, but not spectacular compared to everyone else,” Piastri added.
What Sepang power unit issue means for Norris
The Sepang power unit issue means McLaren’s MCL40 loses time on Malaysia’s long straights, the one part of the lap Norris can’t make up elsewhere. That cost him a shot at a higher grid slot on Saturday, and it leaves him unsure what Sunday will bring.
Sepang exposes the weaknesses of the car in a way few other circuits do. McLaren were second on the long run averages, two tenths behind Red Bull. That suggests the pace is there elsewhere, even if qualifying did not show it on the straights.
What happens next
Sunday’s grand prix returns to the same Sepang circuit. Track position and tyre wear look set to shape the result. Piastri expects the long corners to matter. “Obviously dirty air is a pretty big topic around here because there’s a fair bit of high speed and very long corners so we’ll have to wait and see,” he said.
Tyre wear adds another variable. “There’s going to be a lot of strategy involved I think with the amount of deg there is, but I don’t expect it to be a wildly different picture tomorrow,” Piastri said.
Norris lines up sixth and Piastri seventh for Sunday’s race. Verstappen’s Red Bull starts on pole, according to the Motorsport report from Sepang.
Away from the timesheets, Norris has had a busy week. He explained his Colapinto apology and addressed his F1 future. Verstappen, meanwhile, has already shown his hand with his call in FP2.
