1
Lando Norris has revealed that his German Grand Prix was almost over before it started, as he was caught out by the wet conditions on his preparation laps.
The drag strip at before the final corner caused problems for a number of drivers during the race at Hockenheim, with Norris' McLaren teammate Carlos Sainz spinning out in that section of the track during the race.
Sainz managed to come away with no damage, however Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Hulkenberg all made contact with the wall due to the lack of grip on the drag strip.
Norris says that he tested the grip on that particular section of track prior to the race, and feared that he would end up in the barrier.
“The only thing that was stupid that led to a lot of crashes was the drag strip," Norris said.
"Luckily, I did it on my laps to the grid because we had an onboard that we had to watch, the one magic lap from Fernando when he was with Ferrari, and he goes two wheels over the curb and onto the drag strip and everything looks fine.
“So I did my lap to the grid I tried it and I genuinely thought I was going to be out of the race before I even started. I put the clutch in, full opposite lock, I’m not exaggerating.
"I was like, ‘Oh shit, this is not going to be good!’ Because the guys were waiting there to put me up on the jacks and put me in my positions, and I had the biggest fright of my life.”
With Sainz scoring a fifth place finish and Renault failing to score points, McLaren extended its lead in fourth place in the constructors' championship, even with Toro Rosso's surprise podium.
However, Norris believes that McLaren's rivals have made some strong gains in recent races, which could make their life more difficult in races to come.
"Germany was already pretty tough, as good as it looked at times and with P5 as a result, our pace wasn’t that strong, so we’ve got a lot of work to do I think,” Norris commented. “A lot of others brought upgrades and made some decent steps ahead of us.
“It’s going to be tough, no matter what, even if we’re quick or slow, it’s still going to be tough. But at the moment we don’t look like we have as strong as a car as we’ve had in the last few races. So yeah, we’ve been trying to improve.”
Grand Prix of BelgiumLocal time
Grand Prix of BelgiumLocal time
Bahrain International Circuit - Winter testing
M. Verstappen
C. Sainz jr
C. Leclerc
Bahrain
United Arab Emirates
Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
Saudi Arabia
Jeddah Street Circuit
Australia
Albert Park
Japan
Circuit Suzuka
United States of America
Miami International Autodrome
Monaco
Monte Carlo
Canada
Gilles Villeneuve
Spain
Circuit de Catalunya
Austria
Red Bull Ring
United Kingdom
Silverstone
Hungary
Hungaroring
Belgium
Spa-Francorchamps
Netherlands
Circuit Zandvoort
Italy
Monza
Azerbaijan
Baku City Circuit
Singapore
Marina Bay Street Circuit
United States of America
Circuit of the Americas
Mexico
Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez
Brazil
Interlagos
United States of America
Las Vegas Street Circuit
United Arab Emirates
Yas Marina Circuit
United Arab Emirates
Yas Marina Circuit
53,610 comments on McLaren
17 members have this team as their favourite
Tweets about Lando Norris
282,905 comments on McLaren 156 members have this team as their favourite Tweets about McLaren
Replies (1)
Login to replylada
Posts: 300
Vertelt het altijd zo spontaan, heerlijk