Oscar Piastri won the Chinese Grand Prix as McLaren finished first and second, but they almost lost that latter result as Lando Norris suffered a problem with his brakes late on
Lando Norris said he suffered his “worst nightmare” as he battled to even finish the Chinese Grand Prix. The championship leader was on course for a podium finish and big points when he suddenly began to suffer a problem with his brakes in the latter stages of the race.
Oscar Piastri led the race from start to finish and took victory comfortably. He might have been made to sweat more by his team-mate but Norris soon had bigger problems than a battle for the lead to contend with.
His advantage over George Russell was only a handful of seconds when he and his race engineer began to discuss on the radio a problem he was having. Norris reported his brake pedal “going long” – meaning he was losing the amount of pressure he could apply on the brakes.
The problem got worse as the laps ticked by and, with two laps to go, McLaren told him it was “critical”. He had to nurse his car home while Russell chased him down and, in the end, Norris narrowly held off his fellow Brit to preserve a 50th one-two finish in the team’s Formula 1 history.
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Speaking afterwards, the relief Norris was feeling was obvious. He said: “It’s scary. It’s like my worst nightmare. When I have a nightmare it’s when my brakes are failing. I was losing two, three, four seconds over the last couple of laps, so I was a bit scared.
“But we survived and we made it to the end. We would have loved to have given it a little try and put Oscar under a little bit of pressure, but not today. So we’re satisfied. Great result, and we’ll go again next time.”
Norris retained his position at the top of the standings after two Grands Prix and one sprint race to start the 2025 season. But Piastri’s victory will have reminded his team-mate that he is very much in the title fight too with McLaren looking a cut above the rest in these early stages of the campaign.
Still, the Brit said he was satisfied with the result, having overtaken Russell twice to stop the Mercedes man from splitting the two McLarens. He added: “A few fun moments. The start, I was kind of hoping for exactly that so turn one went to plan, but then George undercut me on the pit stop.
“I was a little bit nervous, but our pace was a lot better in the second stint. So, a tough race, just with the management, and I don’t think many people expected a one-stop today, so that was good.
“Oscar drove well, he was quick the whole race – I tried to get close but, in the end, I just couldn’t. He deserved the win and he drove very well all weekend, so I’m happy with second. It’s good points and it’s great points for us as a team with the one-two, so a big thanks to everyone in Papaya. Just how we wanted the race to go, so we’re very happy.”
