McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella has blamed a bump in the Las Vegas Grand Prix circuit for sending Lando Norris crashing out on Lap 3 of the race.
Norris lost control of his McLaren MCL60 through Turn 11 of the all-new Vegas street circuit when he hit a bump in the middle of the road.
The impact pitched the Briton into a spin before he found the barriers at the end of the Turn 12 run-off area, bringing an early end to his Saturday night.
Norris was taken to the on-site medical centre but was transferred to a nearby hospital for precautionary checks. Stella confirmed that the 24-year-old has since been discharged with “all checks [coming back] negative”.
“There’s a bump in that place [Turn 11], you can see all the cars spark when they go through this bump,” Stella stated when asked for an explanation for Norris’ Lap 3 exit.
“I think the combination of the bump and cold tyres might have surprised him, but otherwise we didn’t see any issues with the car or a different nature.”
Norris’ crash came less than a lap after the race resumed following a brief spell under the Virtual Safety Car, which suggested that a number of factors were behind the shunt.
“I think that bump, if we carry on racing at night time, it should be fixed because the tyres will always be cold, low grip and it becomes a very tricky corner,” Stella asserted.
“Already during the weekend we saw cases in which there was oversteer in that place, so independently of the timetable, we would strongly recommend that this bump is smoothed out.
“In fairness, it’s the same bump for everyone, so it just depends on your speed, the condition of your tyres, potentially just how your car is positioned there, how close you are to the car ahead.
“So there’s multiple factors, just maybe Lando made the kind of assumption that there was enough grip, but it’s a very tricky place, I’m sure all drivers will comment that it’s something that needs to be fixed.”
Norris’ retirement was his first non-finish for the Briton since the 2022 Sao Paulo Grand Prix and also ended a points-scoring streak that commenced in Austria.
The Red Bull Ring round marked where the team began its implementation of a season-defining upgrade package, which Norris has utilised to record seven podiums.
Norris’ affinity with the MCL60 has contributed greatly to McLaren’s rapid recovery up to fourth position in the 2023 Constructors’ Championship order after a woeful start.
However, the Woking-based outfit was only able to add two points to its tally in Las Vegas courtesy of a tenth-place finish for Oscar Piastri, who also claimed the fastest lap.
Both McLaren drivers were shock eliminations in Q1 in the early hours of Saturday morning, leading the team to send Piastri out on the Hard compound for his opening stint.
The rookie had run as high as third, but his progress from the back of the field was hampered when he was forced to make an extra stop after contact with Lewis Hamilton on Lap 17.
Outscored by both Aston Martin drivers in Las Vegas, McLaren’s advantage in the battle for fourth in the standings is reduced to just 11 points heading into the final round.
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