Neither McLaren driver made the beginning of Formula 1’s Chinese Grand Prix, with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri stricken with technical issues earlier than the race.
McLaren was frantically engaged on Norris’s automobile round an hour earlier than the beginning of the race, saying: “We had identified an issue on the electronics side, which is why we had removed the floor and checked a number of parts.
“We believe we have rectified the issue and the team are now in final preparations for the race.”
But Norris didn’t full his reconnaissance laps to the grid as his McLaren staff continued to work on his automobile within the storage.
Team-mate Piastri did – however then he encountered issues of his personal and was pushed again into the McLaren storage earlier than the beginning of the formation lap.
McLaren mentioned simply earlier than the formation lap: ”We additionally recognized a problem on Oscar’s automobile, which implies we have been unable to begin the automobile from the grid.
“We have now returned the car to the garage to further investigate the issue there.”
That left grid spots 5 and 6 empty because the race began.
Gabriel Bortoleto’s Audi additionally encountered points earlier than the race as a technical downside dominated him out of the race earlier than it even started. That left grid spot 16 empty.
Williams driver Alex Albon was set to begin from the pitlane however didn’t make the beginning both, leaving 18 of the 22 vehicles on the grid.
