Norris 'choker' status grows after Shanghai Sprint Qualifying stinker

With the McLaren MCL39 regarded as the fastest Formula 1 car in the field this weekend, expectations were high for Norris to fight for the Sprint Race pole position in Shanghai. But a scruffy SQ3 lap ended his chances. And the 'choker' tag just got a little more true

Norris admitted in the F1 TV pen afterwards: “I made a mistake. I locked up in the last corner. We just struggled a bit more now, just not quick enough, simply. Struggled a lot with the car. Just our difficulties that we’ve been struggling with showed a lot more. So, nothing more than that, honestly. Just too many mistakes but just too difficult of a car to drive.”

McLaren’s front-locking issue, especially in low-speed corners, had already surfaced earlier in the day during the single Free Practice session, with Norris confirming the windy conditions made things worse: “I think just throughout the day we’ve been struggling a bit with the front-locking and in the last corner with the tail-wind.

“Kind of a lot more aligned with Bahrain, just a lot windier. When the wind’s blowing then we struggle a lot more. I think both myself and Oscar struggled more, clearly me more than him. Just pushing a bit hard to try to make up for not quite being quick enough," added the Australian Grand Prix winner.

Despite the setback, Norris remained confident that the issues could be contained for the rest of the weekend, but conceded the onus was on him to adjust his approach: “That’s more on me rather than the car, I can’t make the car perfect.

“This was me just trying to push too much, so more just I need to back off a little bit and try not to push so much. I think the car is still good and in a good window. Maybe not good enough for pole, but we can definitely go forward.”

Norris will start Saturday’s 19-lap Sprint from P6 on the grid, aiming to make up ground and secure valuable championship points before Sunday’s Grand Prix. He and we all know he should've been on pole, no matter how you sugarcoat it.

Teammate Oscar Piastri was P3 at the end of the session. He reported: "Overall, a positive first day on track in China. SQ1 and SQ2 felt good, we just couldn’t get the pace out of the car in SQ3. It's been challenging at times adapting to the track’s new surface, the grip's been a lot better than last season which is nice, but it's very peaky.

"It was tough to keep on top of the car at times, but the team did a good job of taming it for Sprint Quali. The pace in the car is still very strong and I'm confident I can fight for a higher finish from third in tomorrow’s Sprint," added Piastri.