Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have both failed to make the start of F1’s Chinese GP after their McLarens were struck by pre-race technical issues.
McLaren was scrambling to get both Norris and Piastri at the start, as world champion Norris couldn’t make it out of the pitlane in time for the pre-race procedure due to electronics problems.
Less than 10 minutes before the start of the formation lap McLaren also had to wheel Piastri back to the garage with an undisclosed problem, and it failed to sent either driver back out for a pitlane start.
It’s the second consecutive pre-race drama for McLaren after Oscar Piastri crashed out of his home race in Melbourne on the reconnaissance laps to the grid.
Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto also hit trouble after he had already made it onto the starting grid. The Brazilian’s car was pushed back to the garage by his mechanics some 15 minutes before the start of the race and didn’t make the start either.
Williams man Alex Albon made it four non-starters. Albon had opted for a pitlane start after taking the car out of parc ferme to fix his car balance issues, with Albon qualifying a lowly 18th. It meant only 18 cars lined up on the starting grid.
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli led the field from pole as F1’s youngest-ever polesitter, followed by George Russell and the two Ferraris of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, and then a gaping hole on the third row which was supposed to be occupied by the papaya McLarens.
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– The Autosport.com Team
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