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Lando Norris has revealed that there was already an indication to him that the plank wear was marginal, and he could get disqualified from the F1 Las Vegas GP. Hence, when the news came, it wasn’t much of a shock for the driver.
Lando Norris ended the F1 Las Vegas GP in second after an impressive race weekend, whereby, by the end of it, he was looking at a 30-point lead over Oscar Piastri and a 42-point lead over Max Verstappen. Unfortunately, however, soon after the news came that both McLaren drivers had excessive wear on their planks.
The excessive plank wear is a slam dunk disqualification from the race, and unfortunately for Norris, that was exactly what happened. As a result of the disqualification, the driver has seen his championship lead shrink significantly. He’s not looking at a 42-point advantage over Max Verstappen and a 30-point lead over Oscar Piastri. On the contrary, both of his rivals are now only 24 points behind him.
Talking to the media, including Sportskeeda, ahead of the F1 Qatar GP, Lando Norris revealed that because of the amount of precaution and management he had been forced to do during the race, he had a sense that something like this could be on the table. He said,
“From what I had to do in the race, there was already some expectation that it might happen. So it wasn’t a shock, it wasn’t a surprise. We knew we were having a lot more issues than we ever expected during the race, and that led to already the expectation that some things might not be as we expect.”
He added,
“Maybe it would have hurt more if we won the race, but we didn’t, so it didn’t change. It doesn’t change anything. There’s no point in being too sad about it. Of course, everyone in the team was a bit gutted about the result because there’s a lot of effort that goes into it. So yeah, it’s the same for everyone, but like 0.1 millimeters or whatever, it’s like a piece of paper.”
Lando Norris not too bothered by what happened in Las Vegas
Looking back, Lando Norris was not too affected by what happened at the Las Vegas GP. The driver maintained that the focus is only going to be on the next couple of races and trying to win.
If the Brit ends up outscoring both Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri by more than a point this weekend, he would be crowned world champion. Norris was, however, focused on what’s next, as he said,
“So it was frustrating but actually I was quite okay, just excited to go again this weekend. it doesn’t change anything. I want to try and win in Qatar and try and win in Abu Dhabi. So yeah, it sucks, but that’s life sometimes.”
The F1 Qatar GP has not been a happy hunting ground for the McLaren driver, especially since a drive-through penalty impacted his result last season.
Edited by Charanjot Singh Kohli
