Lando Norris had his best lap restored in the qualifying for the Formula 1 sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix as he did not benefit from exceeding track limits, which initially led to his exclusion. Norris seemed to be on his way to securing provisional pole position for the Shanghai sprint race during a chaotic and wet final part of qualifying on Friday. However, he went off track and onto the gravel, with all four wheels crossing the white line, although the left side was still in contact with the curb. Consequently, his lap was excluded, and a message from race control announced that Norris’s subsequent lap, which would have secured pole position, would also not count. This situation often occurs on circuits where going off track can provide an advantage by gaining extra speed at the end of a lap before starting the next one.
Shortly after Norris’s lap was excluded, it was reinstated, denying Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton pole position for the sprint race. The decision to reinstate the lap generated mixed reactions after the session. The FIA’s sporting regulations do not explicitly require laps to be excluded for exceeding track limits during qualifying. Instead, this is described in the event notes provided by the race director for each Grand Prix. Therefore, exceeding track limits on the final corner does not automatically result in the exclusion of the next lap.
The practice of always excluding subsequent laps is implemented only at specific circuits where the potential advantage gained by exceeding track limits on a preparation lap is considered significant. So far this year, only the Bahrain Grand Prix has included this specific note from the race director, as the final corner leading onto the start/finish straight has a large run-off area. The event notes for the Chinese GP do not include this provision, as the Shanghai circuit now has a gravel trap beyond the curb at the final corner.
Therefore, while going off track still results in the exclusion of the lap that includes the violation, the FIA did not consider it necessary to automatically exclude the next lap as well. It appears that Norris’ next lap was excluded almost by default due to the usual practice in such circumstances, but this was later recognized as a mistake. In contrast, Max Verstappen also went off track at the same location as Norris, and his lap with the error was excluded, but not the subsequent one. As a result, Norris’ lap was reinstated almost immediately.
Interestingly, if it had been deemed that Norris gained an advantage, it is possible that the lap would have remained excluded. Even though the cancellation of subsequent laps is not automatic, they can still be excluded if it is later determined that an advantage was gained by exceeding track limits during the preparation. However, this was not the case for Norris.
