Lando Norris laments scruffy SQ3 in China with McLaren ‘too difficult to drive’

McLaren driver Lando Norris was left to rue what might have been after Sprint Qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix, having gone from topping SQ2 to ending up a lowly sixth in SQ3.

Norris arrived in China off the back of victory at the season opener in Australia and started the Shanghai weekend well by posting the pace-setting time in Friday’s sole practice session.

However, after leading the way in the second Sprint Qualifying phase, Norris’ afternoon took a turn for the worse with a pair of mistakes in the pole position shootout – his opening run compromised and the second abandoned.

That left Norris sixth on a final timing screen headed by Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton as he looks to defend his championship lead through the first Sprint weekend of the campaign.

SHANGHAI, CHINA - MARCH 21: Lando Norris of Great Britain driving the (4) McLaren MCL39 Mercedes on — Norris had to settle for sixth position during Sprint Qualifying in Shanghai

“I made a mistake – I locked up in the last corner,” he said, referring to the decisive second runs, having earlier suffered a snap through Turn 13. “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.”

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Having already explained how he was adapting his driving style to deal with the MCL39’s characteristics, Norris shared some more insight into what’s going on behind the wheel at the Shanghai International Circuit.

“I think just throughout the day we’ve been struggling a bit with the front locking and struggling lot in the last corner with the tailwind,” he commented. “Kind of a lot more aligned with Bahrain [testing]. Just a lot windier, and when the wind’s blowing, we struggle a lot more.

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“I think both myself and Oscar [Piastri] 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.”

Asked how he’s feeling for the rest of the weekend, and what he can tweak to make the situation better, Norris added: “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.

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“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.”

Norris will start Saturday’s 100-kilometre Sprint three places down on team mate Piastri, who secured third on the grid behind Hamilton and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.