Lando Norris says he feels "clueless on track at the minute" with the 2025 McLaren Formula 1 car after qualifying sixth for the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Norris was more than four tenths of a second slower than pole-winning team-mate Oscar Piastri in Q3 and ended up behind both Mercedes, Charles Leclerc's Ferrari and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly.
Despite leading the drivers' championship Norris has been vocal about how challenging he has found it to get on top of the MCL39 - F1's current benchmark car but an at-times capricious one too - throughout the season.
But he was particularly despondent come the end of qualifying in Bahrain, saying he had been "off" on every lap during the weekend across three separate media sessions in which he lambasted himself heavily.
"It was just every lap, honestly," said Norris, speaking to media including The Race, when asked about his final Q3 run. "I've been off every lap this weekend, just not comfortable.
"No big complaints, the car's amazing, the car's as good as it has been all season, which is strong. Just I've been off it all weekend; I don't know why, just clueless on track at the minute. I don't know; I just need a big reset, that's all."
In a separate interview with F1 TV he said the result was not surprising based on his form across the weekend and that he felt like he had "never driven a Formula 1 car before".
And he reiterated throughout his appearances that he had nothing to complain about with the car.
Asked if his difficulties with the car had extended to a mental challenge, Norris said: "I just don't know how to approach it.
"I can't figure it out - every time I try something, it's good for one session and then it's the wrong thing for the next session because the wind's changed, and I just can't flow with the car. And when I can't flow, I'm just not very quick.
"I've just got to work on myself, I can't fault the team and the car is the best by a long way. But clearly I'm just not clicking at the minute."
He credited Piastri for taking pole - "Oscar's doing a great job" - but was dismissive of any talk about how this might affect a championship battle.
Norris is one point clear of Red Bull driver Max Verstappen, who qualified a place further back seventh, and 13 ahead of Piastri.
"I mean not concerned, I'm just concerned about me," he said when asked about Piastri - who has two poles in the last three races - and his consistency in the other McLaren.
And asked about that streak in a championship context, Norris added: "Couldn't care less.
"Like I said, I care about myself, I don't care about what the others do. I've always known Oscar's good and he's quick, and he's doing the job I know he can achieve with the car that we've got. So yeah, well done to him.
"But I'm more worried about my own performance than others, so yeah, I don't care about the rest of them."
