Lando Norris: McLaren driver says he was lucky to finish Chinese GP after 'nightmare' brake failure

Lando Norris has revealed he was “lucky” to finish the Chinese Grand Prix after a “nightmare” brake issue on his way to second place behind winner Oscar Piastri.

Norris was just three seconds adrift of Piastri and potentially missed out on a chance to put his McLaren team-mate under pressure when his brake pedal went “long”, so his car was not slowing down properly.

He crossed the line just 1.3 seconds ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell and thinks he would have retired had the race been a few laps longer.

“The last four, five, six laps were horrible,” Norris told Sky Sports F1.

“I don’t advise it! It’s like going around a roundabout with no brake. It wasn’t nice. I don’t think we knew exactly what it was or what was happening.

“We were lucky to finish the race. George was only one second behind at the end. It’s a driver’s worst nightmare, our brakes failing. It’s the worst feeling when you press the brakes and nothing happens and your foot goes to the floor.

“I had just enough to finish but one or two more laps and I don’t think I would have.”

Stella: Brake issue not acceptable

The Shanghai International Circuit has one of the biggest braking zones on the calendar at the end of the long back straight, where a complete brake failure could have major consequences.

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella did not hold back on the issue, which could have led to a big accident for Norris.

“I am happy with the one-two. We have been tense at the pit wall, and I’m sure the entire team and the fans, because we had one issue on Lando’s car with the brake pedal that we needed to manage over the last 20 laps,” said Stella.

“Lando and the team did a very good job in being in the loop as to how to adapt the driving style to this kind of problem, which then got worse and worse through the race and put the entire result at risk – which is obviously just not acceptable from a reliability point of view.

“We need to do better and this will be one of the points that we will definitely reemphasise to the entire team that have worked at an incredibly high level, but we cannot have issues that put these sort of results at risk.”

Norris praises ‘amazing team’ for building best car

Norris still leads the F1 Drivers’ Championship by eight points over Max Verstappen, who finished in fourth on Sunday.

McLaren underlined why they are favourites to defend their constructors’ title from last year with an early 25-point lead over Mercedes. Red Bull are 42 points adrift of McLaren and Ferrari already 61 points behind after Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were disqualified.

Norris added: “The team are doing an amazing job on keeping the car as strong as it’s been. It’s another year of the same regulations and it gets harder and harder to make the car quicker.

“For the team to have done such a job over the winter is credit to them that they have given us a car like they have. A big thanks to everyone at MTC because it’s not easy. When you listen to them talking and describing how difficult it is, you owe them a lot when you have a car as well as this is working.

“Even though we are always complaining, we are made to do that! So all credit to the team because we believe we have the best car, that’s a fact. We know it’s tricky to drive, and definitely harder than last season, but as long as we can get around that and improve that as our next step, we will be even more confident.”

Formula 1 heads to the iconic Suzuka Circuit for the Japanese Grand Prix on April 4-6, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – No contract, cancel anytime