Lando Norris, the McLaren driver, openly shared his “dreadful” feelings following an error-ridden sprint race at the Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix. Despite the competitive pace of his McLaren, Norris found himself slumped in the eighth position, a far cry from his usual performance.
Norris had to settle for a sixth-place start on the grid following missteps in his timed attempts during the SQ3 in Sprint Qualifying. These errors squandered his opportunity to secure pole position, a miss which weighed heavily on the young driver. However, the race-day mishap that saw Norris sliding to ninth place, compounded his disappointment.
The British driver was in the thick of a battle with George Russell at the onset of the race. Unfortunately, Norris’ wheel slipped into the grass while maneuvering Turn 6, causing him to lose his line and subsequently, his position. This error placed him behind Yuki Tsunoda, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, and Lance Stroll. It was only towards the end of the race that Norris managed to overtake Stroll at Turn 14, thereby moving up to the eighth position.
When queried about the impact of his starting position, Norris didn’t mince words. He agreed that starting further back did make things harder. He conceded, “I just had a bad first lap. I had to run into the grass a bit into Turn 6 and then lost a couple of positions. It was just difficult to do a lot.”
Despite his disappointment, Norris expressed optimism regarding his speed on single laps. He is confident that this strength will aid him in the main qualifying session, helping him bounce back from the disheartening Sprint experience.
On the other side, Norris’ McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri had a more successful race. Starting third on the grid, the Australian driver managed to overtake Max Verstappen’s Red Bull in the final laps, securing a commendable second place. However, he fell short of challenging Lewis Hamilton, who was unstoppable as he clinched his first Ferrari win by a margin of 6.8 seconds.
The performance discrepancy between the McLaren drivers was noted by team boss Andrea Stella, who admitted to struggling with tire graining control at the Shanghai International Circuit. He acknowledged that Ferrari, and particularly Hamilton, deserved the pole position and victory. Stella was surprised by Ferrari’s under-performance in Australia, given their superior pace in China.
Stella also pointed out the significant learnings from the Sprint race, particularly the struggles with the front tires, especially for Norris who faced more traffic. He conceded that the strategy to manage the graining didn’t work as expected. Stella emphasized the importance of the upcoming qualifying session for the race, suggesting that the team would take the lessons forward.
In summary, while Norris’ performance in the Chinese GP Sprint was a low note, he anticipates better performance in the main qualifying session. Meanwhile, McLaren will seek to address the tire graining issues that plagued them in the Sprint race, as they continue to compete against the formidable Ferrari team.