McLaren duo Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri fail to start Chinese Grand Prix
Reigning constructors’ champions McLaren suffered a disastrous start to the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday as both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri failed to make the grid due to separate technical issues.
The Woking-based outfit rushed to prepare their machinery for lights out in Shanghai, but reigning world champion Norris was unable to leave the pit lane following a suspected electronics failure.
Moments later, heartbreak struck his Australian team-mate, who was forced back into the garage less than 10 minutes before the formation lap after engineers discovered an undisclosed problem.
Early struggles in the 2026 season
These pre-race failures compound a miserable opening to the brand-new 2026 technical regulations for the Papaya team.
Piastri previously recorded a non-start at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix after crashing his vehicle on the way to the grid.
Meanwhile, his British counterpart could only manage a fifth-place finish in Melbourne while rivals Mercedes and Ferrari dominated the podium places.
Shattered podium hopes
The double withdrawal comes as a bitter blow after the squad had shown significant pace and progress throughout the weekend in China.
Both drivers successfully locked out the third row of the grid during qualifying, trailing the Ferraris of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc by just two-tenths of a second.
They had also accumulated eight valuable points during the Sprint event, finishing comfortably ahead of Mercedes title hopeful Kimi Antonelli.
Addressing the disastrous turn of events, the team released a brief update confirming their ongoing investigations into the dual failures.
“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. We will now work to identify the issue.”
McLaren Official Statement
Four cars miss the lights
The reigning constructors’ champions were not the only competitors to suffer severe pre-race reliability woes on Sunday.
Audi driver Gabriel Bortoleto encountered mechanical trouble on the grid, forcing his mechanics to push the car back to the garage with 15 minutes remaining until the formation lap.
Williams racer Alex Albon completed the quartet of non-starters, failing to emerge from the pit lane after taking his car out of Parc Fermé conditions to rectify ongoing balance issues.
