Lando Norris and McLaren braced for 'dreadful' Chinese Grand Prix

Lando Norris has revealed the struggles he's having with his McLaren car during races in the early season.

Norris won last weekend's season-opening Australian Grand Prix from pole position, but struggled during the Chinese GP sprint race having qualified down in sixth.

He could only bring his car home in eighth, scrapping around the midfield and only adding one point to his championship total.

The Brit's weekend has been full of mistakes, with errors on his laps in SQ3 causing the low sprint race starting position, and more mistakes during main race qualifying leaving him unable to challenge team-mate Oscar Piastri for pole position.

Norris will start Sunday's main race from third on the grid, but warned in his post-sprint race interview with Sky Sports F1 that he may struggle in the race.

"The further back you start, the harder it is," Norris said. "I just had a bad first lap. I had to run into the grass a bit in turn six and I lost a couple of positions and then it was difficult to do a lot. Quali didn't help, but I wasn't very good today either."

"At the minute, in the race, I just feel dreadful," he concluded.

Competition tight at the top

Championship leader Norris lost out points-wise to the likes of Piastri, Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton during the sprint race, in a season in which every point is likely to be vital.

Four teams look to be capable of securing race wins and potentially challenging for both championships, making sprint races even more crucial in 2025 than they have been in previous years.

The 25-year-old will be desperate to find something in the main race on Sunday in order to take the fight to the likes of Piastri, Verstappen and George Russell, who has put his Mercedes up in second.

Sprint Results: Lewis Hamilton fights off Max Verstappen for epic Ferrari victory at Chinese Grand Prix

Related

More F1 news

Latest F1 news

Zak Brown delivers McLaren F1 dig after double DNS at Chinese Grand Prix

• March 17, 2026 16:55

McLaren to hold talks with Mercedes after engine failure at Chinese GP

• March 17, 2026 11:54

McLaren BURNED by community note after Chinese Grand Prix

• March 15, 2026 15:24

Oscar Piastri greets McLaren double DNS with bizarre gesture: 'Not a serious bone in his body'

• March 17, 2026 21:55

Bonkers to think Oscar Piastri has had a worse start to the season than Aston Martin

• March 15, 2026 11:05

McLaren F1 disaster as both drivers out of Chinese Grand Prix before start

• March 15, 2026 08:11