Lando Norris drops a 3-word reaction to his lock-up while racing Charles Leclerc in the F1 Bahrain GP

McLaren driver Lando Norris poked fun at himself and gave a short reaction to his lockup while racing against Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc during the 2025 Bahrain GP. It was a complicated race for the championship leader, given that he started from P6 after a poor qualifying on Saturday, April 12.

He made a perfect start to the race and climbed his way to P3 at the end of the first lap but was given a five-second penalty after he was found guilty of being ahead in his grid box off the line. The British driver successfully served his penalty after the first pit stop but fell behind Charles Leclerc once again after the Monegasque driver comfortably overtook him on the track in the middle phase of the race.

However, after the safety car interval, Lando Norris was on the desired medium tires compared to the hard tires of the Ferrari driver. But he made a mess of his first overtaking attempt and got locked up into Turn 1. During the cooldown room, the McLaren driver watched the footage again and poked fun at himself, saying:

"What a muppet."

Norris ultimately overtook Leclerc and was inches away from taking P2 from George Russell on the final lap of the race.

Lando Norris analyzes his P3 finish in Bahrain

McLaren driver Lando Norris said that he had mixed feelings regarding his performance in the Bahrain GP despite fighting his way to a P3 finish after starting in P6.

In his post-race press conference, the five-time F1 race winner reflected on his race at the Sakhir International Circuit and said:

"I qualified sixth yesterday which is pretty terrible, so how can I possibly be happy? That just doesn’t make sense. Of course, I’m a little bit happier today that I managed to get back to P3. I had a good start, all those things."

"But I think P2 was the best we could have achieved today – so we should have achieved it. But we didn’t – and I didn’t, because of some mistakes. So, mixed feelings. I think the pace is good – the car is obviously mega, as Oscar showed, but yeah, just too many mistakes there," he added.

McLaren team boss Andrea Stella had a much more positive outlook on Norris' result and told F1.com:

“Lando, starting P6, was always going to have to work hard this evening, and a five-second penalty made his job even harder – but he put in a very strong performance and ensured we get to celebrate a double podium finish, which is important for both Championships."

With his fourth podium finish in as many races, Lando Norris now has a three-point lead in the championship over his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri.