Lando Norris says his troublesome Mercedes power unit from the Bahrain Grand Prix is "finished". The McLaren driver finished the Bahrain event in 17th and last place after having to manage a pneumatic pressure leak that forced him to pit six times. Ahead of the 2023 season's second Grand Prix, in Saudi Arabia, McLaren have elected to replace Norris' internal combustion engine, turbocharger, MGU-H, MGU-K and exhaust system. "I took a whole new engine, because the other one's finished already," said Norris. Despite swapping in an entirely new engine, Norris has not incurred a grid penalty as he remains within his permitted limit of components for the season. However, with 21 races remaining, and drivers permitted to use only three internal combustion engines, turbochargers, MGU-H and MGU-K units, along with eight exhausts, it is likely that Norris will incur grid penalties for excessive component usage as the season wears on.
Norris expecting 'very close' midfield battle
After ending FP1 in 20th place, Norris improved to 12th in FP2, and the Briton noted the congested nature of the midfield in Jeddah. "I didn't do my [flying] lap in FP1, but it's close," Norris added. "The split between me and last place was two-tenths [in FP2], so if I had made a little mistake, it's last place, so it's very close, all the midfield. "Alpine are up the road on the whole midfield, so they've vaulted to the front, and even Williams seem a lot quicker than us too. "It feels alright, to be honest, the car. Struggling quite a bit with overall balance, but just doing the best with what we've got."
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