Lewis Hamilton (GBR) from Mercedes AMG F1 W15 and Lando Norris (GBR) from McLaren MCL38 started the Sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai, China, on April 20, 2024. Norris, who had secured pole position during Friday’s Sprint Qualifying, expressed disappointment as he dropped from first to sixth place due to some mistakes on his part.
Despite his exceptional performance in wet conditions during Sprint Qualifying, Norris faced difficulties from the start of the Saturday Sprint race. A poor start saw Norris alongside Lewis Hamilton from Mercedes as they approached Turn 1. Norris chose to take the outside line, which was dirtier, causing him to lose control and drop to seventh place. He managed to regain a position when Fernando Alonso retired due to a tire puncture.
“I just lost control, there’s nothing more to say,” admitted Norris. “I was just trying to keep it on the outside, but with the poor condition of the tarmac, I ended up going a bit off track. The tires weren’t at the ideal temperature and I lost control. It’s a shame, but these things happen.”
Norris acknowledged that his mistake was frustrating, but also believed that McLaren struggled with pace throughout the race, making it challenging to score a significant number of points. He found himself stuck behind a group of cars, including Alonso, Carlos Sainz, Sergio Perez, and Charles Leclerc, all using the Drag Reduction System (DRS). Despite his battles towards the end of the race, Norris was unable to make significant progress.
“I was just holding on because of the DRS. Otherwise, I would have fallen far behind,” Norris explained. “Our pace was pretty bad and I also suffered some damage towards the end of the race. It was a tough race, not what we expected. Even if I had made fewer mistakes, I believe we would have ended up in a similar position. Lewis managed to pull away quite a bit, but I think Mercedes had a slight edge over us today, although not by much. There were definitely more points available, but my mistakes cost me.”
When asked about the Turn 1 incident with Norris during the post-race press conference, Hamilton commented that Norris could have benefited from exercising more patience. “There’s a point where you go too far and there’s no grip out there, and I think that’s what he eventually experienced,” Hamilton stated. “In that situation, he should have yielded and stayed behind me. He probably had the pace to overtake me because the McLaren is very fast, but I understand that he lost a lot of ground there. That’s just racing.”
