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McLaren team principal Andrea Stella reveals that a bump resulted in Lando Norris suffering a heavy crash in Formula 1’s Las Vegas Grand Prix.
McLaren had a difficult weekend in Las Vegas (Image Credit: Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images)Lap three of the Las Vegas Grand Prix saw Norris lose control of his MCL60 at the full throttle Turn 11 due to a bump.
The 24-year-old hit the bump, causing a spin and hit the rear of his car into the outside wall – eventually coming to a stop in the run-off area for Turn 12.
Norris was required to go to a nearby hospital for precautionary checks after going to the medical centre. However, the Briton was soon cleared and discharged from the hospital.
Las Vegas has had a lot of controversy due to its dangerous nature. Manhole covers and bumps, along with the cold temperatures made it hard for the drivers.
Bump caused the crash
Plenty of issues occurred this weekend in Las Vegas. The chaos started after Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz has his SF-23’s chassis destroyed after going over a manhole cover in FP1. The incident resulted in the Spaniard receiving a 10-place grid penalty, which Ferrari felt was unjustified.
Stella was asked what caused Norris to crash so heavily. The Italian said that it was a bump:
“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.”
The McLaren team principal also called for the bump issue to be solved. Expanding on his point, Stella believes that the cold temperatures could have also been a factor.
“I think that bump, if we carry on racing at nighttime, 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 of oversteer in that place. So independently of the timetable, we would strongly recommend that this bump is smoothened out.”
McLaren had a weekend to forget in Las Vegas (Image Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images)Norris may have misjudged it
Despite the bump clearly affecting the McLaren driver, no other driver had an issue with it during the race. Stella conceded that Norris may have misjudged the amount of grip levels he had.
“In fairness, it’s the same bump for everyone, so it just depends on your speed, the condition of your tyres, potentially how your car is positioned there, how close you are to the car ahead,” he explained.
“There are multiple factors. Maybe Lando made a kind of assumption that there was enough grip.”
However, the Italian still believes that all drivers will comment about the bump. Therefore, a fix should be made for next year’s race as Las Vegas is locked in for the next 10 years.
McLaren lacked pace throughout the entire weekend. Both drivers were knocked out in Q1. Norris’ teammate Oscar Piastri could only managed 10th in the race.
With Aston Martin having a decent race, McLaren only find themselves 11 points ahead of the Silverstone team going into the final race. Who will come out on top to claim fourth in the constructors’ championship?
Feature Image Credit: @F1 on X
