World champion Lando Norris fears his McLaren will struggle on Malaysia's track after a challenging qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Norris qualified sixth fastest and was sixth tenths of a second slower than pole sitter Max Verstappen in Sepang, which is hosting an F1 race after nine years.
However, Norris will start fifth after Red Bull's Isack Hadjar received a grid penalty that drops him from third to eighth.
The McLaren driver, who is fourth in the championship, was not pleased with his car's performance on the Sepang tarmac.
“We are just slow. The car's not good enough here,” Norris said.
“This tarmac is very different to a lot of other tracks we have been to this year and therefore I think you see Mercedes struggle a lot more today especially, you see Red Bull quicker than they usually are.
“So I think the order has shaken up a little bit and I think we struggle a little bit more than what we were expecting because of the surface.”
Meanwhile, Verstappen claimed his first pole position of the season.
Verstappen clocked one minute and 35.130 seconds to edge out Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton, who snatched second place in the dying moments of qualifying despite struggling with tyre degradation in the brutal Malaysian heat.
Verstappen's teammate Hadjar was third fastest but will start eighth due to a five-place grid penalty, with championship leader Kimi Antonelli moved up to third for Mercedes alongside Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.
Verstappen was the last driver to win a Grand Prix in Malaysia in 2017, in what was his second career victory.
The Dutchman became the first driver this season to put a car without a Mercedes engine on pole.
“It's fantastic, we've been trying for many Grands Prix to get more, sometimes a bit closer to the others,” said Verstappen.
“But to finally get it from where we started the season, pretty incredible.”
Hamilton struggled with tyre degradation in practice sessions but the Briton said the team had resolved most issues.
“It's so hot here, I keep saying it. But that's made it a massive challenge for the tyres, for the car, for the mechanics in the garage,” Hamilton said.
“We made so many changes through all these practice sessions because the cars are sliding, these tyres are overheating. It was really, really hard to find a good balance.
“We made one last change going into qualifying and I think we hit the sweet spot.”
