Lando Norris expecting 'complications' over crucial F1 race factor

Lando Norris is expecting F1 race starts to be increasingly challenging for drivers to manage this year due to the new power units.

The electrical output has been significantly boosted this year, creating a 50/50 split with the combustion engine.

Drivers will now have to manage how they deploy and save energy throughout the lap, which will be key in wheel-to-wheel combat.

This is set to include the start of the races, which often proves crucial to the final order of the grand prix.

When asked if he expects race starts to be more difficult this year, Norris told media including RacingNews365: “Quite a bit more.

“You’ve also got the turbo, which previously, you would use the battery to get the turbo perfectly balanced, and then you'd have just a very nice bleed out using battery and using the combustion engine.

“Now, it’s a lot more complicated. As soon as you start to use any battery to help in any situation, you're just taking away a lot of battery to use for the rest of the lap.”

Haas' Esteban Ocon has already commented that he expects overtaking to be difficult this season after his initial experience at the Barcelona shakedown

Should that prove to be the case, utilising energy in the right place may prove decisive - and it may not in the opening corners of the race, according to Norris.

“I could maybe have a better start, but you can run out of battery by the time you get to Turn 1, in some places like Mexico, for example,” he said.

“There are going to be some complications, but at the minute it is trickier, mainly because to get the turbo at the perfect point, and because you don't have the perfect amount of battery to kind of fill in the dodgy gaps, it's quite a bit trickier.

“You’ll be seeing plenty of stars being done in Bahrain.”