McLaren Ready to Fight Max Verstappen and Red Bull, as Oscar Piastri Makes Bold Claim

Qualifying was not particularly strong for McLaren in Sakhir ahead of the 2024 Bahrain GP. Lando Norris will start in P7, a place ahead of Oscar Piastri. However, despite their disappointment during qualifying, Piastri is optimistic about fighting toward the front of the grid. A lot of teams were wary of Red Bull heading into the weekend. Those fears of domination have evaporated, at least for one. Max Verstappen and Red Bull got the pole, but they didn’t blow the pack away like many expected. This is what makes Piastri think that McLaren is in the mix.

Fit check. ✅

Photo ready with @LandoNorris and @OscarPiastri! #BahrainGP pic.twitter.com/ZcnXlRqb1u

— McLaren (@McLarenF1) March 2, 2024

“I think we’re definitely in the fight, in that pack,” Piastri said as quoted by Speedcafe. “I think even Red Bull’s maybe didn’t look quite as good as what we feared, which is good.”

Piastri isn’t the only driver to see a slight weakness in Red Bull before the opening race. Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur also feels that if the rest of the grid puts pressure on Red Bull this season, the Milton Keynes-based team could be forced to make some mistakes.

However, although Piastri is feeling positive ahead of the race, there are issues that McLaren needs to address.

McLaren fail to live up to their hype

McLaren made tremendous progress in the second half of 2023, which saw them give the dominant Red Bulls a run for their money. Over the winter break, many expected them to make tremendous strides, becoming at least the second-fastest team this season.

So far, that hasn’t been the case. While they don’t look as horrendously slow as they did in round one of 2023, they do seem to be stuck where they were towards the end of last season.

“Honestly, I think it’s very similar to how we ended last year,” Oscar Piastri said. But he does expect them to have a better idea of what lies ahead when they travel to Jeddah for the Saudi Arabian GP in a week’s time.

A lot can change in a year…#BahrainGP pic.twitter.com/2V6xThGJR0

— McLaren (@McLarenF1) March 1, 2024

P7 and P8 will be a good place for Piastri and Norris to fight for big points, but their pace in practice and qualifying suggests that a podium could just be out of reach.