Why Norris believes McLaren can ‘throw pre-season test data in the bin’ at Bahrain GP

McLaren finished at the top of the timesheets in both FP1 and FP2 ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix, but Lando Norris felt the team’s pre-season testing data could be “thrown in the bin” as he lamented the change in conditions.

The Bahrain International Circuit is home to both pre-season testing and the fourth round of the 2025 Formula 1 season. The former took place in late February and had vastly different conditions to this weekend’s race, as cold and even rain disrupted running.

Mid-April has witnessed more familiar desert conditions, with extremely high track temperatures in FP1 – another reason for so many reserve drivers on track earlier today with the conditions being barely comparable to Sunday’s race.

It was unusually cool at the circuit as pre-season testing took place, with air temperature barely rising past 20C, and track temperature struggling to reach 19C. Compare that to this weekend and the temperatures were much higher. FP1 saw track temperature close to 50C. Even with the sun setting, it still reached 38C at 6pm local time, with high winds making things more complicated for the drivers.

Temperature affects almost every aspect of car performance, but the tyres are one of the worst hit, as in hotter environments the rubber gets softer, and while it will exhibit more grip faster, it then suffers thermal degradation at a higher rate.

This rear-limited circuit is more abrasive compared to Japan last weekend. While both tracks utilise the same tyre compounds, we’ll see a very different race unfold this Sunday because of these factors.

Lando Norris, McLaren

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

“The track and weather conditions are very different, and we saw from today’s long runs that the level of thermal degradation on the tyres, not just on the rear axle but in some cases also on the front, was very high,” said Simone Berra, Pirelli’s chief engineer.

“It is therefore easy to imagine a two-stop race, with all three compounds potentially playing their part.”

This is why Norris felt this year’s pre-season testing data is of little value this weekend: “The big challenge is how can you look after the rear tyres in the best way possible. We came into this weekend with a lot of our information from the pre-season tests, but it’s basically like, throw all of that in the bin and just start again, because it’s so different today.”

The performance delta is so substantial that Norris describes his performance as “seconds off what we were doing” during testing.

Teams must reset their understanding, even after pre-season testing’s 3,896 laps around the circuit.

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Despite the pessimism, both McLaren drivers showed strong performance, with Norris on top in FP1 with a time of 1m33.204s and Piastri leading FP2 with a 1m30.505s – eye-catching times backed up in the long-run data logged by McLaren compared to its rivals.

“Everyone just looks at the time sheets,” Norris continued on this point. “They have no idea about the information – on who turns up [their engines], who doesn’t. It’s like three-and-a-half, four-tenths around here, so that puts us immediately back in the same position as the Mercedes. So, at the minute, I wouldn’t say we’re any quicker.”