What Happened to Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri at Chinese GP?

“Unfortunately, we identified separate issues on both cars which prevented them from starting the Chinese GP, with Oscar’s being removed from the grid shortly before the formation lap,” the team said in an official update.

The issue with Piastri’s car forced the Australian driver to be removed from the grid just before the formation lap, ending his race before it even began. Norris also remained in the garage while mechanics attempted to diagnose and fix the problem with his car.

Earlier comments by McLaren suggest Norris had suffered an electrical issue, which required the team mechanics to carry out extensive checks on the car before the start of the race.

“We believe we have rectified the issue and the team are now in final preparations for the race,” McLaren said earlier, before bowing out of the Chinese Grand Prix.

Multiple Drivers Fail to Start Chinese Grand Prix

McLaren was not the only team affected before the start of the race in Shanghai. Audi driver Gabriel Bortoleto and Williams driver Alex Albon also did not start the race, adding to the unusual pre-race drama at the Chinese Grand Prix.

The incidents came after an already eventful weekend at the Shanghai International Circuit, which had featured Sprint race penalties and a historic pole position for Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli during qualifying.

With both McLaren cars out before the race even began, the team suffered a significant blow in the championship battle as rivals lined up on the grid for the start of the 2026 Chinese Grand Prix.