Lando Norris came away unscathed after a big crash on the third lap of the Las Vegas GP; Norris nearly hit team-mate Oscar Piastri, who finished 10th and scored the bonus point for fastest lap; watch the season-ending Abu Dhabi GP live on Sky Sports from this Friday
Monday 20 November 2023 11:26, UK
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella believes a bump caused Lando Norris to lose control of his car and hit the wall hard at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Norris suffered his first retirement of the season when he spun into the wall at Turn 11, before the braking zone for Turn 12, and slid down the wall all the way into a barrier at the end of a run-off zone.
The McLaren driver, who was running in 13th at the time, was taken to the medical centre and had precautionary checks at the University Medical Center in Las Vegas, before being discharged.
"An unfortunate end to our Las Vegas GP weekend. I just bottomed out on the restart, lost the rear and hit the wall. Not the way we wanted the weekend to end, especially considering the pace looked promising on Oscar's side," said Norris.
"Big thanks go to the medical staff for checking me over, and to the team for the work they'll now put in on the car. One week to reset and go again for the season finale in Abu Dhabi."
Norris nearly hit McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri as he crashed out and it's possible his medium tyres were not fully up to temperature at the time of his accident on Lap 3.
"There's a bump in that place and you can see all cars sparkle when they go through this bump. I think the combination of the bump and the cold tyres might have surprised him," explained Stella.
"But otherwise, we don't see any issue with the car or of a different nature. That bump, if we carry on racing at night time, should be fixed because the tyres will always be cold, low grip and it becomes a very tricky corner.
"Already during the weekend we saw cases in which like there was oversteer in that place. So independently of the timetable, we would strongly recommend that this bump is more than out."
Most of the new Las Vegas track appeared relatively smooth in terms of bumps but the drivers struggled with cold temperatures and big braking zones, leading to mistakes.
Both McLaren drivers were eliminated in Q1, as they suffered their worst qualifying since the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, with the track layout not suiting their car.
Stella says Norris, who came into Las Vegas in great form with five podiums from six events, is in "good conditions" after a "scary crash".
"In fairness, it's the same for everyone, so it just depends on your speed and 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," he added.
"Maybe Lando made a kind of assumption that there was enough getting. But it's a very tricky place. I'm sure all drivers will comment that's something that needs to be fixed."
After the thrills of Las Vegas, Formula 1 heads to Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina Circuit for the 2023 season finale and another stunning spectacle under the lights. Watch the Abu Dhabi weekend live on Sky Sports F1, with lights out on Sunday at 1pm. Stream F1 on Sky Sports with NOW
