Lando Norris admits McLaren frustration as Chinese GP nightmare ‘robust to take’
Lando Norris has admitted his failure to start the Chinese Grand Prix is ‘tough to take’ after McLaren suffered a double Did Not Start.
The world champion failed to take to the grid in Shanghai as an electrical fault meant his car remained in the garage. Oscar Piastri also didn’t take part in the race after an issue to his car was found before the formation lap.
Speaking to Sky Sports in the media pen while the Grand Prix took place, Norris said: “We can’t race. It’s just frustrating. It’s on the power unit side. The guys tried as hard as they could to get it sorted or to find some solution, but they weren’t able to. It’s disappointing, my first non-start in Formula 1. It’s tough to take, but that’s life sometimes.
(Image: Steven Tee, LAT Imagesvia Getty Images)
JOIN US ON FB! Get all the best sports news and much more on our Facebook page
“I’d probably say an hour or so before going out, I was just warming up and getting ready to go out and drive and then I found out about it. They know it’s an issue that they can’t fix for now. They need to look further into what it is and why it’s happened.”
McLaren revealed that the issues that plagued their two drivers were both different problems, the team said after Piastri returned to the garage shortly before the formation lap: “We also identified an issue on Oscar’s car, which means we were unable to start the car from the grid. We have now returned the car to the garage to further investigate the issue there.
“Unfortunately, we identified separate issues on both cars which prevented them from starting the Chinese GP, with Oscar’s being removed from the grid shortly before the formation lap. We will now work to identify each issue.”
Piastri is yet to drive in a Grand Prix this year after he crashed out on the reconnaissance lap ahead of his home Australian Grand Prix.
Speaking to the media, Piastri said: “It was an electrical issue on the power unit. Different to Lando’s, so just very unfortunate to both have issues. We don’t fully know any more than that at this point. Obviously disappointing.
“(We will) try and learn what we can by watching the race, after that just trying to do as much work as we can before Japan.
“Obviously the problems today have been annoying but I think besides that, we know we’ve got work to do to find more performance, so that’s what we’ll try and focus on.”
It’s been a nightmare start to the season for the defending Constructors’ and Drivers’ champions, with McLaren set to take just 18 points from the opening two races.
