Lando Norris, the British driver from McLaren, celebrated his pole position in the parc fermé during the Sprint qualifying session at the Chinese Grand Prix. This unexpected achievement came as Norris excelled in the wet conditions of SQ3, finishing with a remarkable 1.2-second advantage over his competitors.
Initially, the stewards had removed Norris’s best lap time due to track limits violations at the final corner. However, McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella clarified the reason behind the restoration of Norris’s time. Stella explained that the lap was deleted because Norris had gone off track at Turn 15 on his previous lap, leading the stewards to believe he may have gained an unfair advantage.
Interestingly, while such regulations exist at other circuits, they were not in place for Formula 1’s return to China after a five-year absence. Stella speculated that the exclusion may have been influenced by Norris going off track on the previous lap, which had implications for his subsequent lap.
Stella revealed that Norris had lost nearly three tenths of a second compared to the benchmark time due to going off track in preparation for his pole position lap. This was because going off track at the final corner resulted in a lower launch speed, causing a significant time loss for Norris.
Despite the setback, Norris’s pole position was reinstated by the FIA itself. Stella expressed his satisfaction, stating that the pole position was deserved by Norris and that he hopes everyone at McLaren can enjoy this achievement.
On the other hand, Norris’ teammate, Oscar Piastri, struggled to keep up with his performance and ended up in eighth place on the grid, three seconds behind the reference pace. Stella revealed that Piastri encountered an issue with the gearbox coming out of the low-speed corner at Turn 14, which significantly impacted his chances.
Stella congratulated Norris on his exceptional performance in challenging conditions, emphasizing the crucial role of the driver in such situations. He also acknowledged Piastri’s unfortunate setback and stated that, without the gearbox issue, both drivers could have secured high positions on the grid for the sprint session. Overall, Stella expressed his satisfaction with the team’s performance during the session.
