After claiming pole position and winning the Australian GP, Lando Norris couldn’t keep his hot streak going in China. The McLaren driver made a costly mistake during Sprint Qualifying that left him starting from P6.
Norris had looked strong early on. He topped the free practice session and made clean runs on medium tires through SQ1 and SQ2.
But things fell apart when he switched to soft tires for the final session.
“I made a mistake, I locked up in the last corner,” Norris admitted after qualifying. “We just struggled a bit more now, just not quick enough simply, struggled a lot with the car.”
His teammate Oscar Piastri managed to secure third place in the same car, highlighting Norris’s difficulties.
“Just our difficulties that we’ve been struggling with showed a lot more today,” he explained. “Nothing more than that honestly, just too many mistakes but just too difficult of a car to drive.”
## ‘Similar to Bahrain track’
The Shanghai International Circuit seemed to expose some of McLaren’s weaknesses, particularly in windy conditions.
“Throughout the day we’ve been struggling a bit with the front locking and struggling a lot in the last corner with all the tailwinds,” Norris said.
He compared the situation to Bahrain, where McLaren has historically faced challenges.
“It’s kind of a lot more aligned with Bahrain. Just a lot windier. When the wind’s blowing, then we struggle a lot more.”
This weather sensitivity affected both McLaren drivers, though Norris clearly had the worse time of it.
Can McLaren bounce back for Saturday’s main qualifying session? Norris believes the issue was more with his driving than the car itself.
“That’s more me, rather than the car. I can’t make the car perfect,” he admitted. “I push a bit too much. I just need to back off a little bit and not try push too much.”
Despite the setback, Norris remains confident in the car’s potential.
“I think the car’s still good and in a good window—maybe not good enough for pole position, but we can definitely go forward.”
