McLaren F1 “Norris’s PU recharges the system every 10 laps due to air pressure leakage”[F1-Gate.com]

McLaren finished 17th in the final of the 2023 F1 season opener Bahrain Grand Prix, with Lando Norris in 17th place and Oscar Piastri in retirement. McLaren’s race could not have been worse. Lando Norris’ power unit had problems early on and he had to refill the air intake every few laps. As a result, he made six pit stops and finished last.

In addition, Piastri retired due to problems with the electronic control. Bahrain proved to be a very difficult opener for the team. Andrea Stella (Team Principal): “We didn’t start the season as we had hoped. We could have scored some points today and the cars had competitive pace in their race stints, especially Lando. We were in position, but unfortunately we were hit by two reliability issues: Oscar retired with an electrical problem, which is currently under investigation, while Lando was on the power unit side. We had a pneumatic leak, which meant we had to pit every 10 laps to recharge the system.I know we have work to do, leaving Bahrain, but the season is long. I will be able to run again in Saudi Arabia.” Lando Norris (17th) “It was a very tough race. I tried to stay in that for the rest of the time, just in case the safety car came out and I might have had a chance at the end. We had too many problems and we’ll try again next time.” Oscar Piastri (DNF) “It’s a shame it ended so early. I think we did a good job up until now, we still haven’t figured out what the problem is, we thought changing the steering would fix it but unfortunately it didn’t, the race was what we wanted I didn’t get it, but there are some positives and I think the car has a better pace in the race, but I still learned a lot and I’m glad I got to experience my first F1 race weekend on my debut. I’m looking forward to having a better weekend in Saudi Arabia.”