Lando Norris

Lando Norris admitted his own mistakes left the early Formula 1 championship leader qualifying down in sixth for the sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix.

After winning in Australia last weekend, Norris had been towing a fine line between admitting McLaren was the team to beat while also attempting to temper expectations of just how quick its car is.

Norris, whose team-mate Oscar Piastri will start the sprint from third, discussed on Thursday how the car does not suit his driving style, but in Shanghai it was two small mistakes on both runs that left him off the pace in sprint qualifying.

“I made a mistake – I locked up in the last corner,” he said. “But we’re just struggling a bit more now. Just not quick enough, simply. Struggling a lot with the car.

“It’s more on me rather than the car. I can’t make the car perfect. But, no, this was me just trying to just push a bit too much.

Lando Norris, McLaren

Photo by: Mark Thompson

“So [I] just need to back off a little bit and not try to push too much. I think the car’s still good and in a good window, maybe not good enough for pole. But we can definitely go forward.”

Norris pointed to the windy conditions across the Shanghai International Circuit as making the McLaren more difficult to drive.

“Our difficulties that we’ve been struggling with showed a lot more today, so nothing more than that, honestly. Just too many mistakes, it is just too difficult a car to drive,” he added.

“I think just 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, so it is kind of a lot more aligned with Bahrain [pre-season testing]. Just a lot windier – when the wind’s blowing, then we struggle a lot more.

“So I think both myself and Oscar struggled more, clearly me more than him. So, yeah, just pushing a bit hard to try and make up for not quite being quick enough.”

Having looked by far the quickest squad, neither McLaren could hook up a fast enough lap in SQ3 as Lewis Hamilton took pole position for Ferrari with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen joining him on the front row.

Piastri bemoaned the strategy to run earlier than their rivals in SQ3 but is still hopeful of a strong showing in Saturday’s sprint race.

“I think we were probably quick at the wrong points of it, unfortunately,” he said.

Oscar Piastri, McLaren

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

“SQ1 and SQ2 felt good, and then SQ3, we tried something a bit different and went out much earlier and tried two laps, which I’m not sure was the best thing in the end, but I think it’s something we need to have a look at.

“I think the pace in the car is still very strong and I’m still confident to fight from third. It has been difficult, I think, with the track surface, it’s got a lot of grip, but it’s very peaky and it’s been pretty tough all day to just keep on top of the car.

“I honestly think we did a good job of trying to tame it for sprint qualifying, just maybe got the run plan a bit wrong.

“So it’s been an interesting challenge. The grip has been a lot better than last season, which is nice, and I think there’s some things we can do better tomorrow.”

Lando Norris held his hands up as his own mistakes left the early championship leader qualifying down in sixth for the sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix.

After winning in Australia last weekend, Norris had been towing a fine line between admitting McLaren was the team to beat while also attempting to temper expectations of just how quick the car is.

Norris, whose team-mate Oscar Piastri will start the sprint from third, discussed on Thursday how the car does not suit his driving style but in Shanghai it was two small mistakes on both runs that left him off the pace in sprint qualifying.

“I made a mistake. I locked up in the last corner,” he said. “But we’re just struggling a bit more now. Just not quick enough, simply. Struggling a lot with the car.

“It’s more on me rather than the car. I can’t make the car perfect. But, no, this was me just trying to just push a bit too much.

Lando Norris, McLaren

Photo by: Mark Thompson

“So [I] just need to back off a little bit and not try to push too much. I think the car’s still good and in a good window, maybe not good enough for pole. But we can definitely go forward.”

Norris pointed to the windy conditions across the Shanghai International Circuit as making the McLaren more difficult to drive.

“Our difficulties that we’ve been struggling with showed a lot more today. So nothing more than that, honestly. Just too many mistakes, it is just too difficult of a car to drive,” he added.

“I think just 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. So it is kind of a lot more aligned with Bahrain [pre-season testing]. Just a lot windier when the wind’s blowing, then we struggle a lot more.

“So I think both myself and Oscar struggled more, clearly me more than him. So, yeah, just pushing a bit hard to try and make up for not quite being quick enough.”

Having looked by far the quickest squad, neither McLaren could hook up a fast enough lap in SQ3 as Lewis Hamilton took pole position for Ferrari with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen joining him on the front row.

Piastri bemoaned the strategy to run earlier than their rivals in SQ3 but is still hopeful of a strong showing in Saturday’s sprint race.

“I think we were probably quick at the wrong points of it, unfortunately,” he said.

Oscar Piastri, McLaren

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

“SQ1 and SQ2 felt good, and then SQ3, we tried something a bit different and went out much earlier and tried two laps, which I’m not sure was the best thing in the end, but I think it’s something we need to have a look at.

“I think the pace in the car is still very strong and I’m still confident to fight from third. It has been difficult, I think, with the track surface, it’s got a lot of grip, but it’s very peaky and I think it’s been pretty tough all day to just keep on top of the car.

“I honestly think we did a good job of trying to tame it for sprint qualifying, just maybe got the run plan a bit wrong.

“So it’s been an interesting challenge. The grip has been a lot better than last season, which is nice, and I think there’s some things we can do better tomorrow.”

Photos from Chinese GP – Practice & Sprint QU

Lando Norris needed the whole of the one and only practice session at the Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix before he ultimately set the benchmark with a stunning lap.

With the pace of the McLaren a talking point heading into the second race weekend of the year, Norris was head and shoulders clear of the field with a time of 1m31.504s.

Charles Leclerc was the closest to matching Norris – 0.454 seconds adrift – as Ferrari showed more pace than throughout the Australian Grand Prix, while an error into the final corner of his last run left the sister McLaren of Oscar Piastri in third.

While the changeable weather from race day in Australia gave way to sunshine in Shanghai, a strong tailwind caught out a number of drivers throughout the sole practice session.

With China being the first sprint race of 2025, the six rookies had only this one hour to get to grips with the Shanghai International Circuit – quite literally as the track has been completely resurfaced from last year.

Lewis Hamilton was fourth for Ferrari as the Scuderia appeared the best equipped to challenge McLaren, while George Russell was fifth for Mercedes ahead of another impressive outing for Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg and the Williams of Alex Albon.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

Max Verstappen set his fastest time on the medium tyre and ended the session down in 16th as four rookies occupied the last four places.

Jack Doohan’s session cut short by a power steering issue on his Alpine as Gabriel Bortoleto, Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar all struggled.

Lawson had a Red Bull debut to forget in Australia and had an early run through the gravel here, too, while Yuki Tsunoda reported the new asphalt was offering up much more grip than previously.

Carlos Sainz laid down an early marker for Williams as the Spaniard hopes for a better weekend than his debut for the squad in Australia, where he crashed out under the first safety car having qualified behind new team-mate Albon.

But Sainz ultimately fell to 15th as it did not take long for the McLaren pair to clock times that took them ahead of the rest of the field, Piastri just edging clear of Melbourne race winner Norris.

The Ferraris of Hamilton and Leclerc enjoyed a spell at the top of the timesheets, although the latter spun off into the gravel at Turn 2 with 20 minutes of the session remaining.

It was Russell who was the fastest runner on the medium compound before the times fell later on.

Doohan’s session ended early, bringing out a red flag which cut even shorter the running available to teams ahead of sprint qualifying.

The short delay to clear Doohan’s stricken Alpine meant the majority of the field was queuing in the pitlane with soft tyres bolted on for their one and only qualifying-spec run.

FP1 result:

Photos from Chinese GP – Free Practice

Lando Norris needed the whole of the one and only practice session at the Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix before he ultimately set the benchmark with a stunning lap.

With the pace of the McLaren a talking point heading into the second race weekend of the year, Norris was head and shoulders clear of the field with a time of 1m31.504s.

Charles Leclerc was the closest to matching Norris – 0.454 seconds adrift – as Ferrari showed more pace than throughout the Australian Grand Prix, while an error into the final corner of his last run left the sister McLaren of Oscar Piastri in third.

While the changeable weather from race day in Australia gave way to sunshine in Shanghai, a strong tailwind caught out a number of drivers throughout the sole practice session.

With China being the first sprint race of 2025, the six rookies had only this one hour to get to grips with the Shanghai International Circuit – quite literally as the track has been completely resurfaced from last year.

Lewis Hamilton was fourth for Ferrari as the Scuderia appeared the best equipped to challenge McLaren, while George Russell was fifth for Mercedes ahead of another impressive outing for Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg and the Williams of Alex Albon.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

Max Verstappen set his fastest time on the medium tyre and ended the session down in 16th as four rookies occupied the last four places.

Jack Doohan’s session cut short by a power steering issue on his Alpine as Gabriel Bortoleto, Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar all struggled.

Lawson had a Red Bull debut to forget in Australia and had an early run through the gravel here, too, while Yuki Tsunoda reported the new asphalt was offering up much more grip than previously.

Carlos Sainz laid down an early marker for Williams as the Spaniard hopes for a better weekend than his debut for the squad in Australia, where he crashed out under the first safety car having qualified behind new team-mate Albon.

But Sainz ultimately fell to 15th as it did not take long for the McLaren pair to clock times that took them ahead of the rest of the field, Piastri just edging clear of Melbourne race winner Norris.

The Ferraris of Hamilton and Leclerc enjoyed a spell at the top of the timesheets, although the latter spun off into the gravel at Turn 2 with 20 minutes of the session remaining.

It was Russell who was the fastest runner on the medium compound before the times fell later on.

Doohan’s session ended early, bringing out a red flag which cut even shorter the running available to teams ahead of sprint qualifying.

The short delay to clear Doohan’s stricken Alpine meant the majority of the field was queuing in the pitlane with soft tyres bolted on for their one and only qualifying-spec run.

FP1 result:

Although McLaren’s MCL39 has demonstrated an early advantage in 2025’s F1 season, Lando Norris feels that the papaya machine still does not suit his driving style. That said, the Briton has admitted to a change in his own approach, in that he is less worried if a car suits him and more worried about performance.

Norris says that he has given up on the idea of trying to influence the engineers to build a car that plays to his own strengths as a driver, and instead has put the onus on himself to adapt to what McLaren believes is needed to find performance.

Speaking ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix, Norris explained that he would prefer to employ an “attacking” style and likes to be on the front foot with late braking and opening up the corner entries.

In reality, the McLaren seems to get more out of being almost passive into the corners, with excellent traction meaning that the exits can be prioritised for lap time. In our pole-lap analysis from Albert Park, we noted that one of the key differences between Norris and Oscar Piastri was that the more experienced driver was taking less risk with braking zones, and focusing on selecting the right time to drop the throttle mid-corner.

Piastri, by comparison, was willing to play a little bit more with the corner entry – but the immediate advantage in lap delta from carrying more speed into the corner did not last for much longer beyond the corner exit.

“I’ve got to a point where I’ve just accepted that you can’t have really a car that suits your driving,” Norris explained. “I stopped maybe asking so much for exactly what I want and more just willing to do whatever makes the car quicker. You know, it is probably a tricky car to drive and to put together laps. But clearly, it’s taken a step forward to last year.

Lando Norris, McLaren

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

“But then it’s my job to drive whatever car I get given in the end of the day. That’s why I’m here. It’s why McLaren wanted me because they believe I can drive it in a better way than others can.

“It’s similar characteristics [to last year’s car], and some of those characteristics I don’t like and do not suit the way I want to drive in an attacking way. It doesn’t suit me in terms of me wanting to push the entries and push the braking.

“It’s very weak, I would say, from that point of view. So not what I like, but at the same time, some of it is down to the adaptation of needing to change a little bit my driving styles every year. The car I drive this year is very different to what a McLaren was a few years ago, clearly, because we were at the back and now we’re at the front.

“But I think it’s unique in certain aspects and obviously, we have our strengths and weaknesses. And whenever someone has been at McLaren and gone to another team, they’ve often said how hard or odd McLaren has been to drive, whether it was Daniel [Ricciardo] or it was Carlos [Sainz].

“It’s all I’m used to. But I’ll just drive whatever car I have to drive as long as it’s fighting for a win and quick enough to fight for a win, then I’m happy to just drive what I get given.”

Norris spoke about balance, when asked about his decision to stop asking for elements in a car’s design that would suit his driving.

For example, he noted the compromises needed to dial in any additional front-end load; to get the car to feel more natural to him would currently come with the penalty of losing performance.

Lando Norris, McLaren

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

“I think the thing is, the aero guys and girls back in the factory, they just try and find lap time and you’ve got to balance how you work the car. At times you can try and find a more peaky car. So if it works at the peak, it’s better, but it might be trickier to drive and worse in windy conditions those kind of things,” he explained.

“Or do you try and get rid of some of that peak grip and just make it a slightly more all-rounded car? And you’ve got to play with this balance, because it’s easy.

“It’s difficult to get both, and you’ve got to choose what direction you want. I definitely think some of what I want from a car, first of all, it’s just very hard to get. That’s probably the best answer for it is just to have, for me, a good front at apex.

“That’s kind of all I feel like I want, but I very rarely ever have what I need from the car from that perspective. The car can still win races. It’s not like if I don’t have what I need, it’s bad. I can still get the most out of the car if I don’t have what I want. But there’s just compromises.

“If I do want a bit more front end at mid-corner, at the minute, we can only get that if we compromise low speed or high speed performance or windy condition. There’s just so many compromises you’ve got to make. At the end of the day, you just want the best all-rounded car.”

Norris feels that having to put his own interests to one side and focus on getting the most out of the package McLaren provides has actually given him a lot more insight and clarity of thought into the actual process of driving in F1. And that’s sometimes what an athlete needs: to be taken completely out of their comfort zone to view the other side of the coin.

Some might view the idea of driving styles as a myth, and that drivers should be ready to adapt to whatever comes their way. This is true to a certain degree, in that pragmatism reigns over idealism, but some drivers are naturally predisposed to a certain way of operating. To be a truly complete driver, one also needs to be strong in uncomfortable conditions.

Additional reporting by Ronald Vording.