Breaking news
Formula 1 Eifel GP
Norris failure at Eifel GP a repeat of Spa issue
Lando Norris's race-ending failure at the Eifel Grand Prix was a carbon copy repeat of the Renault engine problem that stopped Carlos Sainz before the start in Belgium.
Jonathan Noble
Edited: Oct 12, 2020, 3:55 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Norris had been in contention for a podium finish at the Nurburgring on Sunday before he began suffering from a loss of power.
Despite a valiant effort to override system shutdowns to overcome the issue, the British driver's pace began to fall away before he eventually came to a halt.
His McLaren was then spotted with burning bodywork as the extent of the internal problems became obvious.
McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl said the problem was the exact same ignition fault that Sainz had experienced on the way to the grid in Belgium and had put the Spaniard out on the spot.
"It looks like the same issue that we experienced in Spa on Carlos's side," he said. "So what happens here in the end is that there's an issue on the ignition side, which is causing unburned fuel going into the exhaust. And then it goes 'kaput'.
Seidl said McLaren and Renault engineers tried everything they could to help Norris override the problem, but in the end there was nothing more they could do.
"We tried to get out of this, let's say, protection mode the engine goes in when having such an issue. But unfortunately, it wasn't possible because the problem was constantly there then.
"Obviously it was very disappointing because we were with Lando in a very good position in the race. He was running with P4 on a different strategy compared to Daniel [Ricciardo], and he was actually catching him.
"So it would have been interesting how that would have played out with the different tyre life towards the end of the race. So very disappointed by that, because it was good to see that he had good pace in the race to fight with our main competitors."
Renault team principal Cyril Abiteboul said he would prioritise efforts to get to the bottom of the problem McLaren has suffered, with the Woking-based outfit locked in a tight fight for third in the constructors' championship.
"Given the situation with McLaren at the end of our contract, the very tight championship position, we need to be beyond any reasonable doubt in relation to that," he said.
"So from Monday, the team in Viry will be on that. And the team in Enstone equally needs to be on the hydraulic problems that we had on Esteban Ocon's car, because that reliability is what's going to determine the championship order on the evening of Abu Dhabi."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Abiteboul: Tattoo bet fuelled by "a few beers"
Next article Vettel admits he took "too much risk" at Eifel GP
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jonathan Noble
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
Formula 1
Formula 1 Dec 31, 2024
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Formula 1
Formula 1 Dec 31, 2024
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
Formula 1
Formula 1
Australian GP
Dec 28, 2024
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
More from
Lando Norris
F1 driver contracts: How long is each driver tied down for?
Formula 1
Formula 1 21 h
F1 driver contracts: How long is each driver tied down for?
More from
McLaren
What's behind Oscar Piastri's split with Mark Webber – and what it means for his F1 career
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
4 d
What's behind Oscar Piastri's split with Mark Webber – and what it means for his F1 career
Latest news
Carson Hocevar and Cleetus McFarland win LeMullets 2026 in epic finish
General
Misc General 2 h
Carson Hocevar and Cleetus McFarland win LeMullets 2026 in epic finish
TV ratings released for NASCAR Cup season finale
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
8 h
TV ratings released for NASCAR Cup season finale
Chase Elliott's car chief leaves Hendrick for NASCAR Truck crew chief role
NASCAR Truck
NSTR NASCAR Truck
Homestead
9 h
Chase Elliott's car chief leaves Hendrick for NASCAR Truck crew chief role
Feature
Discover prime content
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Formula 1
By Kevin Turner
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe