McLaren’s all-new driver pairing hopes to build on the team’s momentum with the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix at BIC
TDT | Manama
The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com
McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris will be looking to get the new Formula 1 season off on the right foot in their “home race” this weekend in the F1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix 2021 at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC).
The mega motorsport event takes Sakhir by storm from Friday to Sunday, and the new teammates are looking forward to getting back on the track behind the wheel of their MCL35M contenders.
McLaren has high expectations this F1 season, especially after having won a tight battle for third place in the 2020 constructors’ championship, and their all-new driver pairing is determined to deliver.
Ricciardo will be making his Grand Prix debut in McLaren colours in Bahrain.
The 31-year-old Australian commented: “I’m really excited for the start of the season.
It’s the beginning of a new chapter, my first race in papaya and I can’t wait to get started.
It’s also a special race with Bahrain being the team’s home-from-home.”
Ricciardo added: “It’s an exciting circuit with a few big braking zones and plenty of opportunities for overtaking.
Racing at dusk is always cool and brings an added challenge to the weekend.”
Both he and Norris had their first taste of McLaren’s new car at BIC earlier this month in F1 pre-season testing when they posted 327 laps between them over three days of running.
Norris is now hungry for more and is excited to get the action going with the first practice session this Friday at 2.30 pm.
“It’s time to go racing again and I’m really excited to be jumping back into the MCL35M and getting out on track,” said the Briton, 21.
“We were only out in Bahrain a couple of weeks ago for pre-season testing and looking further back it was only a few months ago since we raced there, so I’m looking forward to doing it again.”
Excelling in Sakhir The McLaren pair have excelled at BIC in past races.
Ricciardo has racked up a few top-10 finishes in Sakhir, five in total—six including last year’s Sakhir Grand Prix—with a brace of fourth places representing his best result in Bahrain to date.
For Norris, his fourth place in the Bahrain Grand Prix last year followed by 10th at the Sakhir Grand Prix has earned him a run of six consecutive top-10 finishes at BIC, stretching all the way back to his F2 feature race win in 2018.
“I’ve had some good performances there during my career and it’s a track I’ve become very familiar with,” said Norris.
“Even though we only had a few days to test, during those days and in the lead-up to this weekend we’ve been able to learn a decent amount about the car and do some correlation work in the simulator, which has been helpful.
“Of course, there’s still more we can understand to extract every final bit of performance, which we’ll need.
“I feel confident and ready to enter my third year in Formula 1.
My aim is to keep building on my previous experience and help the team progress as much as possible.”
Ricciardo has enjoyed his smooth transition to what is now his fifth team in F1.
“In my first few months at McLaren the team has made me feel right at home in such a short space of time,” he said. “I feel confident and comfortable going into the new season, which is important as I want to get the most out of the car right from race one. “As a team, we made the most of pre-season testing with some smooth running.
It was great to get to grips with the MCL35M in just a few days that we had to put it through its paces.
I think, naturally, it takes a bit of time to adjust to a new car, but I’m feeling prepared to hit the track come Friday.”
Both drivers are expecting a challenging campaign ahead but remain upbeat nonetheless.
“This season looks like it’s going to be a competitive one, but I’m looking to hit the ground running, leave nothing on the table, give it my all for the team and hopefully give the fans something to smile about,” said Ricciardo.
Norris added: “I know how hard everyone in the team has been working, both day and night, to get us prepared to go racing again and I can’t thank them enough.
We’ve got a long and challenging season ahead but hopefully, we can get off on the right foot.
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