Lando Norris makes telling five-word Bahrain GP admission as McLaren boss' words ring true

was frustrated with his performance at the , admitting that 'I made too many mistakes' after finishing behind both team-mate and Mercedes' . The Brit's race initially looked to be off to a perfect start. From a lowly P6 grid slot, Norris charged through the field, overtaking Kimi Antonelli, Pierre Gasly and Charles Leclerc before the end of the opening lap.

However, from there, Norris struggled to make inroads on Russell ahead of him, while team-mate Piastri dictated the tempo perfectly from the head of the field. The Briton later made mistakes while battling Lewis Hamilton and Leclerc, and failed to make the most of his chances to overtake his fellow Brit for second place.

Assessing his performance, Norris was unimpressed. "A tough race," he said. "I made too many mistakes with the overtakes, out of position [at the start]. A messy race from me. Disappointed to not bring home a one-two for McLaren because that would have been lovely at home. A tough one but still a few positives."

The 25-year-old's comments ratify team principal Andrea Stella's words from Saturday. The McLaren chief pointed out Norris' inability to bury his disappointment, with the Brit prone to beating himself up in front of the TV cameras after difficult sessions on the track.

"As you say, Lando is often quite self-critical and transparent in a way, which is a stylistic aspect," Stella explained after qualifying. "There are, I'm sure, drivers which are equally self-critical, but they keep it for themselves, and they put a little bit of a screen between them and the rest of the world.

"Lando doesn't have this characteristic. He's very naturally honest, I would say, and therefore, he becomes visible when he's disappointed or when he's self-questioning. I think in relation to the performance, Lando is a very fast driver, a naturally fast driver with an incredible race craft, and even now that he's been struggling to put together laps in Q3, actually during the weekend he shows this speed."

While Norris was frustrated over his performance at the Sakhir International Circuit, he leaves Bahrain in a better position than he arrived, in terms of the Drivers' Championship standings.

The Bristol-born racer is three points clear at the top of the World Championship order, although there is a new name behind him after Piastri's lights-to-flag triumph. Max Verstappen has dropped to third, eight points behind, while Russell is also still in play in fourth.