Lando Norris in McLaren disaster as F1 star suffers nightmare start at Chinese Grand Prix sprint race

Lando Norris suffered a nightmare opening lap, as Lewis Hamilton managed to maintain his lead during the early stages of the Chinese Grand Prix sprint race.

Championship leader Norris tumbled down the order into ninth, outside of the point-scoring positions for a sprint race.

The Brit had only qualified in sixth after some mistakes in SQ3, and did not get away well during the sprint race itself.

This was in complete contrast to fellow countryman Hamilton who started on pole and got away brilliantly well, getting over a second clear of Max Verstappen to break the threat of DRS from the Dutchman.

Sprint races crucial to 2025 success

While only eight points are available for a sprint race victory compared to 25 in a main race, this year every point is set to be crucial in a drivers' and constructors' championship battle that could potentially be between four teams,

Norris' season started off brilliantly well, claiming the first grand prix victory of the season in Melbourne to put himself ahead of all of his rivals in the championship.

However, he risks losing out big time if he cannot get back into the points during the sprint race, particularly with 2024 championship challenger Max Verstappen contending near to the front.

After an initial poor start, Norris struggled to make any real progress, continuing to be stuck behind Aston Martin's Lance Stroll for much of the race.

"How can we help? Do you have any pace?", Norris' engineer Will Joseph asked during the sprint race, to which Norris replied: "No, I’m flat out".

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