Heading into Friday’s F1 Sprint qualifying session at the Chinese Grand Prix, Lando Norris was the favorite.
And with good reason.
Norris began the year with a strong performance in the Australian Grand Prix where he claimed pole position, won the race, and posted the fastest lap along the way. Norris was also fastest in the single practice session ahead of Friday’s F1 Sprint qualifying session, finishing 0.454 seconds ahead of Charles Leclerc and more than a half-second ahead of teammate Oscar Piastri.
But when the dust settled after F1 Sprint qualifying it was Lewis Hamilton on pole and Norris down in P6 after a pair of mistakes in SQ3, the first compromising his initial push lap and the second forcing him to ease off the throttle on his second.
“I made a mistake – I locked up in the last corner,” he said to the official F1 channel. “We just struggled a bit more… not quick enough, simply … struggled a lot with the car.
“Our difficulties that we’ve been struggling with showed a lot more today. Nothing more than that, honestly, just too many mistakes – but just too difficult of a car to drive.”
You can see one of those mistakes here:
Norris’ comments — that the MCL39 was “too difficult of a car to drive” — mirror extensive answers he gave on Thursday in the FIA Press Conference, about how McLaren’s 2025 challenger does not suit his driving style.
The McLaren driver elaborated on those issues after F1 Sprint qualifying.
“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 the tailwind,” he said. “Kind of a lot more aligned with Bahrain [testing]. Just a lot windier, and when the wind’s blowing, we struggle a lot more.
“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.”
Norris then outlined his approach to handling the car, and the Shanghai International Circuit, for the rest of the weekend.
“It’s more me rather than the car. I can’t make the car perfect, but this was me just trying to push a bit too much,” added the McLaren driver. “I just need to back off a little bit, not try and push so 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.”
