Why Did Lando Norris Finish Ahead of Logan Sargeant Despite Both Registering the Same Lap Time?

The F1 2023 season has gotten off to an outstanding start as the Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday ended with a bang. Fans will be extremely excited about the new campaign as the gap between the top and the bottom seems to have reduced significantly compared to the last few seasons.

While most teams have closed the gap to Red Bull Racing at the top, one team that has found themselves on the back foot in the early stages of the 2023 season is McLaren.

McLaren’s Lando Norris only managed to qualify 11th while his teammate, Oscar Piastri, qualified all the way down in 18th. The duo were involved in a tight battle with Williams, which finished last in the Constructors’ Championship last season.

In fact, the battle was so tight between Norris and Williams’ Logan Sargeant that the two clocked in exactly the same lap time during the first qualifying session. Despite doing so, it was Norris who qualified for Q2 and not Sargeant.

Why did Lando Norris qualify for Q2 ahead of Logan Sargeant?

Both McLaren’s Lando Norris and Williams’ Logan Sargeant registered a 1:31.652 on their last effort during the Q1 session.

However, since the Brit registered his time first, it was he who qualified for Q2. Meanwhile, Sargeant had to settle for 16th place. Norris would eventually register a 1:31.381 during Q2, a time that would place him 11th for Sunday’s race.

The early signs from the Bahrain GP qualifying once again suggest that McLaren have fallen behind in the pecking order.

After finishing fifth in the Constructors’ Championship last season, one of their drivers will have to settle on the sixth row for tomorrow’s race. Meanwhile, Piastri will start from the eighth row of the grid.

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Bahrain Grand Prix 2023 starting grid

1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing)
2. Sergio Perez (Red Bull Racing)
3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
4. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
5. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
6. George Russell (Mercedes)
7. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
8. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
9. Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
10. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)
11. Lando Norris (McLaren)
12. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo Racing)
13. Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo Racing)
14. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri)
15. Alexander Albon (Williams)
16. Logan Sargeant (Williams)
17. Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
18. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
19. Nyck De Vries (AlphaTauri)
20. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)

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