General Practice Chinese doctors: Lando Norris admits errors but says McLaren car was “too difficult to drive” in Shanghai

Lando Norris blamed himself for “Too many mistakes” after only in the sixth qualified for Saturday’s Chinese Sprint Grand Prix.

Norris was the fastest for almost half a second in the only workout and looked well moving to the last part of the Sprint qualifying after crossing the SQ2.

The McLaren driver was four tenths of Oscar’s teammate Piastra after his first SQ3 circle, then locked himself in his hair, which is the last effort of Lewis Hamilton, who took Pole, Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc and George Russell, all jumped in front of him.

“I was wrong. I locked myself in the last corner. Now we just fought a little, just not fast enough, simple,” said Norris, who won the Grand Prix of the Australian season last Sunday.

“I fought a lot with the car. Only our difficulties we fought showed a lot more today. So, nothing more than that, honestly. Just too many mistakes, but simply too hard to drive a car.”

Norris took the brightest positions in 2024, but small mistakes from themselves or the team often cost them a race in a race. It is an area McLaren asked to iron, especially since Verstappen is almost always there for exploitation.

The disappointing performance was “more on me, not a car,” according to Norris after “trying to push too much.”

“I think we only struggled a little during the day with the back of the front and in the last corner with tail winds,” he added.

“Somehow, it got a lot more in harmony with Bahrein, just a lot of windynies. When the wind blows, then we fight a lot more. I think I and Oscar fought more than him. Obviously more than him. Only a little pushing myself to try to make up for not very fast enough.”

Piastra is convinced that McLaren can still fight the front

McLaren was strong on heavy fuel during pre -season testing and last weekend in Melbourne, and Mercedes and Red Bull state that they are a step forward regarding tire wear.

Sprint in Shanghai, which takes place on Saturday at 3am live Sky Sports F1 and Sky Sports Main eventIt will be 19 circles long, and long corners will mean that tire degradation is a problem.

Piastra, who will start from the third, thinks that McLaren has made a mistake of his sprint qualifying plan and should be in shape in a shortcut of 100 KM.

“We were fast at the wrong points. The SQ1 and SQ2 felt good, but the SQ3, we tried something a little different and went out much earlier, tried two rounds, which I am not sure is the best thing in the end. It’s something we need to look at,” he said.

“But the tempo of the car is still very strong and I am convinced that we can fight the front.”

Verstappen: It will be hard to keep McLarens behind

Government world champion Verstappen second was as surprising as the Hamilton Sprint Pole.

Only 0.018s separated the duo, who will share the first row of grid from the Hungarian Grand Prix for the first time.

“The balance was not excluded massively. We were simply too slow,” Verstappen said.

“But this is good for us, a little motivational reinforcement for everyone to continue to score circles and maximize everything you got, and you have to do so when you fight for a little more for the pace.”

At the expected McLaren charge, he added, “They looked very fast until the last run, so it would be difficult to keep them behind. I hope it will be fun and we can race a little, that would be nice for me.”

Verstappen’s teammate Liam Lawson had another disappointing qualification as he was leaving him in the last position and SQ1.

“I left in my second round. Obviously a shame. From the starting point it wasn’t too bad. The first round was fine and we wanted to build from there,” he said.

“We stayed to try and cool the tires and really struggled to knock down temperatures. We started too hot and struggled through the circle. It’s frustrating.”

Russell ‘surprised’ McLaren Performance

Mercedes could not join the Sprint Pole fight in Shanghai, as Russell qualified in the fifth and Kimi Antonelli Seventh.

Russell had three dozen Hamilton, but he beat Norris and will surely play a role in Sprint.

“Quite satisfied with the SQ3 circle. Bravo Lewis. It was a pretty great circle,” Russell said.

“I think the P5 was where we were today. It was weird, at SQ2 at one point I was out of the first 10, I jumped on P2 next, and it didn’t feel different, to be honest.

“I think it can go any way between the first couple of teams. It was a little surprise with McLaren because they flew in practice, flying to SQ1 and SQ2, but then, in the end, Lewis and Max did a good job.

“We were right behind them too. I think we shot in Sprint. That could be an interesting race.”

Sky Sports F1, Live Chinese GP schedule

Saturday 22. March

• 2.25 hours: Sprint of Chinese GP Sprint
• 3:00: Chinese GP Sprint*
• 5.45pm: F1 Academy of Race 1*
• 6.35: 00: Chinese GP qualifying buildup*
• 7:00: Chinese qualifying general practice*
• 9:00: TED -O’s qualifying notebook*

Sunday March 23

• 2.40 hours: F1 Academy of Race 2
• 5.30am: Chinese GP Building-up: Grand Prix Sunday*
• 7:00: Grand Prix Chinese*
• 9:00: Chinese GP reaction: Plated flag*
• 10:00: Ted’s notebook*

*Also at the main event Sky Sports

Formula 1 is in Shanghai this week for the first sprint weekend of the season in Chinese GP, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with now – No Treaty, cancel anytime