Norris survives brake scare to finish second in Chinese GP

Dominika Jordan
Mar 23, 2025, 08:28 AM ET

McLaren's Lando Norris expressed relief after finishing second at the Chinese Grand Prix, despite experiencing critical brake issues in the race's final stages. This result extended his Formula 1 championship lead to eight points. Norris finished 9.748 seconds behind his teammate, Oscar Piastri, with Mercedes' George Russell narrowly missing the chance to overtake him due to the brake problem.

"I was lucky to finish the race today, which is not something you want to be saying," Norris told Sky Sports, describing brake failure as a "driver's worst nightmare." He added, "It's just a worst feeling when you go to press the brake and nothing happens and your foot just goes to the floor."

Red Bull's Max Verstappen, a four-time champion and Norris’s closest title rival, finished fourth. Norris had qualified in third place and took second from Russell at the start of the race.

"The team knew about the problem much before they told me about it, so they wanted to keep me calm," said Norris about the brake issue. "I would have loved to have challenged Oscar today... I had the pace for sure. But Oscar deserved it completely, he was on pole yesterday and a win today. Shame about my brakes in the end but that's life and we'll take it on the chin and move on."

McLaren's team boss Andrea Stella confirmed the brake problem arose 15-20 laps from the end. "Lando did a very good job together with the team to manage through the problem, adapting the driving style that it didn't become a terminal problem. So not without some tension we bring home a P1-P2," Stella said.