McLaren boss Andrea Stella says the FIA reinstated Lando Norris’ pole-position lap of its own accord after realising the Briton had not gained any advantage from running off track at the end of his previous deleted attempt.
In what was already a chaotic and wild end to a rain-affected first Sprint Qualifying session on F1’s return to Shanghai, confusion briefly reigned at the end of the session when Norris’ final lap time of 1:57.940 – which had moved him 1.3s clear of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton to seemingly win him Sprint pole – was swiftly deleted by Race Control on the grounds of track limits.
That decision appeared to be connected to Norris running wide at the final corner of his previous lap, which had already been deleted, when the McLaren ran with all four tyres outside the white line and into the gravel.
However, just over a minute after Norris had lost his final time, Race Control reinstated the lap to confirm Norris’ position at the head of the grid for Saturday’s 19-lap Sprint, which is live at 4am on Sky Sports F1.
Explaining what he understood to have happened, Stella told Sky Sports: “It was reinstated by the FIA themselves.
“Definitely because you go off at the last corner you go off at much lower speed and effectively Lando loses almost three tenths because he has been off at the previous last corner.”
The McLaren team principal added: “They might have thought in this case, having been off at the last corner, it might have implications for the following lap which is the pole lap.
“That lap is completely clean, so there is no problem at all.”
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McLaren’s Lando Norris said he was a little nervous seeing that his lap was reinstated yet happy with the pole position result he achieved.
From inside the cockpit, Norris admitted he “had no idea” what was going on as he saw his name appear at the top of the timesheet but then drop down.
“I saw on the board that I wasn’t at the top, but I saw when I went over the line on the TV that I was, so I got a little bit nervous,” said the Briton.
“But I didn’t do anything so it should be okay.”
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, whose team would have gained had Norris’ time remained invalid, had no issue with Race Control’s eventual ruling.
“I haven’t seen the detail, I’ve just seen ‘four tyres off track’ but honestly he was probably slower, so would have gone even faster anyway,” said Wolff.
And Sky Sports F1’s Nico Rosberg, the 2016 world champion, said there should be no debate over whether Norris ultimately deserved the pole.
“This is no discussion,” he said.
“[Norris] did a super-awesome job and [pole is] fully deserved.”
More to follow…
Sky Sports F1’s live Chinese GP schedule
Saturday April 20
3.30am: Chinese GP Sprint (race starts at 4am)*
7am: Chinese GP Qualifying build-up*
8am: Chinese GP Qualifying*
10am: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook*
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A quick look back at some of the biggest moments from the Chinese Grand Prix over the years…
Sunday April 21
7am: Grand Prix Sunday: Chinese GP build-up*
8am: The CHINESE GRAND PRIX*
10am: Chequered Flag: Chinese GP reaction*
11am: Ted’s Notebook*
*also live on Sky Sports Main Event
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