Fraser MasefieldMcLaren Mercedes suffered a nightmare Chinese Grand Prix weekend as both defending champion Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri didn’t even make the start.
The latest setback comes off the back of an equally galling Australian Grand Prix weekend, Norris finishing fifth and Piastri crashing out on his warm-up lap.
It’s the first time that a McLaren car has failed to start an F1 race since the 2017 Australian Grand Prix, when Fernando Alonso suffered a huge qualifying crash.
“We had an electrical problem on the power unit side that prevented us from starting the car,” commented Norris on the official McLaren website.
Lando Norris discusses what happened after both McLarens failed to start the Chinese Grand Prix due to electrical issues 🤔 ❌ pic.twitter.com/1wc81xisIF
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) March 15, 2026
“The mechanics worked as hard as they could to try and fix it, but unfortunately, we couldn’t.
“What makes it even more frustrating is that Oscar and I seem to have had completely unrelated issues on both cars, so just very unlucky all around.”
It is indeed a strange conundrum but one that may be explained due to the sweeping F1 regulations put in place for the 2026 season.
McLaren dominated the 2025 year with Norris becoming world champion and Piastri pushing close to the final race.
Other teams, chances gone, had already focused on 2026.
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“We just have to take it on the chin, learn what the problem was, and make sure it never happens again,” added Norris.
“Everyone in the team is frustrated, our engineers, mechanics and HPP teammates. All of us want to go racing and score points.
“It’s a shame I couldn’t race in front of the fans here today, especially after all their support.
“The team are already working hard to find the issue and fix it for next time, and we’ll get our heads down now and make sure we’re prepared for Suzuka in a few weeks’ time.”
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All is certainly not lost, however. You don’t become a bad team overnight due to electrical issues alone.
And with Norris and Piastri itching to bounce back, they also have two of the best drivers on the F1 grid.
“We move forward as one team, both trackside and in Woking, with our partners at HPP,” commented Andrea Stella, team principal.
“We’ll learn from today together and make sure it doesn’t happen again before coming back stronger for the next race in Japan.”
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Craig Scarborough