McLaren F1 Team Rookie Lando Norris showed promising pace in the second Free Practice session of the 2019 Bahrain Grand Prix as he recorded the eighth fastest time, finishing 1.171 seconds off of the pace of pace setter Sebastian Vettel.
The first session of the day saw the team running through a test program, with the Brit completing 29 laps to finish in fifteenth place.
“There are still things to improve upon but it’s been a decent start to the weekend. I feel more confident because I know the procedures a little more.” said Norris.
“I think Free Practice 1 went reasonably well: we got through everything we had to and I got a good feeling for the track.”
The second session brought conditions that were more representative of what the drivers will face in qualifying and the race.
“The track temperature in Free Practice 2 came down a lot meaning the car felt pretty different and obviously lap times were much faster.” added Norris.
While the session brought faster times, Norris was left frustrated after a technical issue limited the amount of running they could run as the Brit was limited to just 25 laps.
“We ended that session with a small issue which didn’t allow me to do as many laps as I wanted – but I still did a longer run on the higher fuel plus short runs at the beginning of the session, so I got a decent feeling.”
Drivers will now face another daytime practice session before heading in to qualifying in the evening followed by the Grand Prix on Sunday in the evening.
