F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Norris: McLaren in the dark regarding brake issue fix

Lando Norris says McLaren has worked hard to solve the brake issues that impacted its pre-season test in Bahrain but won't know until Friday's running if the problem has been fixed.

McLaren's new MCL36 suffered from high brake temperatures last week at Sakhir that limited the team's mileage as Norris was only able to conduct short runs on any given day, although the introduction of modified parts on the final day of testing slightly mitigated the issue.

The Woking-based outfit subsequently fitted a reprofiled brake cooling duct to its car on Thursday as well as a slightly larger brake drum.

But only time will tell if the MCL36's brake temperature problem has been entirely or perhaps only partly solved.

"We’ll see in a few hours’ time," commented Norris on Friday in Bahrain ahead of F1's first free practice session of the year.

"The team’s done an excellent job in trying to get as many parts here as possible, things to fix those problems. But to a certain extent we don’t know how well they’re going to work.

"We are literally going to have to put them on the car and go out and drive with them to understand just how good they are and whether it’s enough or too much.

"Preferably it’s on the side of too much and we can come back and make modifications from there.

"There could be a chance of either: it could be a perfect race with no issues, and of course that’s the ideal world, or it could be a race where we have to still manage many things.

"We don’t know just yet and we have to see when we get out on track."

Daniel Ricciardo, who didn't drive last week in Bahrain as a result of testing positive for Covid, believes it may take the better part of Friday's sessions and multiple long runs for McLaren to properly understand the extent of its progress on the brake front.

"I know pretty much every day of the test there were modifications happening and on day three there was a good step of progress made," said Ricciardo.

"Since then, we’ve had some more modifications to trial today. We’re in a confident place but there may still be some management."

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Michael Delaney

Recent Posts

Marko: ‘No chance at all’ for Red Bull in Las Vegas

Helmut Marko believes that Red Bull and Max Verstappen are unlikely to challenge for victory…

7 hours ago

GM revives bid to join F1 with accelerated talks for 2026 entry

Automotive giant General Motors is reportedly back in the game as a potential entrant in…

9 hours ago

Las Vegas GP: Thursday's action in pictures

The opening day of running at the Las Vegas GP was a smooth but chilly…

10 hours ago

Williams' headaches persist into Vegas practice

Williams is continuing to fight uphill battles this weekend in Las Vegas as a knock-on…

11 hours ago

Ferrari's Sainz 'not satisfied with where we are' in Vegas

It was a solid start to the Las Vegas weekend for Ferrari with Carlos Sainz…

12 hours ago

Norris labels McLaren long-run pace ‘shocking’ in chilly Vegas

Lando Norris didn’t hold back in his assessment of McLaren’s performance on the opening day…

13 hours ago