'There Was Few F-Words' Norris's Reaction To Unlucky Situation During Race Revealed
F1Monday, 22 April 2024 at 21:30
Updated at Monday, 22 April 2024 at 22:59
Lando Norris reflected on the unlucky situation that he found himself in during the 2024 Chinese Grand Prix.
McLaren F1 driver Lando Norris, who started the fifth round of the 2024 season around the Shanghai International Circuit from P4, had a good start to the race. He was able to get ahead of Fernando Alonso and extend his first stint.
He was running in P2 on lap 21 when there were double-waved yellow flags due to Valtteri Bottas's car being stopped on the side of the track.
It was clear the Sauber driver wasn't going anywhere, and the car would have to be removed either under the virtual or normal safety car.
Pitting under any type of safety car can give drivers an advantage, but unfortunately for Lando Norris, the virtual safety car announcement came up second after he missed the pit lane entry.
It wasn't clear whether the virtual safety car would last long enough for him to take advantage of it a lap after, and that's why Norris instantly showed his frustration on the team radio, saying, "F***ing joking me. Aaaah, f****ing knew it."
In the end, Norris was able to pit under the virtual safety car. Asked to comment on how he felt during the race when he saw a virtual safety car on his steering wheel just after he passed the pit entry, the 24-year-old said:
"I knew it. Yeah, there was a few f-words and s-words and so on. I knew it because it was obvious it was going to be a VSC."
"But it just didn't come out. So I was saying to myself, like, 'I bet it's going to come out as soon as I go around the last corner,' and it literally did. So even my engineer said it. I said it to him."
In the end, everything worked out for the McLaren driver. The virtual safety car and following safety car helped the 24-year-old on his way to the second podium and his team's best result of the season.
"Luckily, it stayed out a long time and then it obviously went to Safety Car. It was good, I think our strategy worked out well. I felt confident in the first stint, so I could go a very long time."
"If the VSC went out before I got around to the pit lane I would have been a lot more annoyed than I am right now."
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