McLaren suffers double Chinese GP DNS after late Norris, Piastri problems

McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have failed to start the Chinese Grand Prix due to pre-race reliability problems.

Piastri and Norris had qualified fifth and sixth respectively for Sunday’s race in Shanghai.

Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri out of Chinese Grand Prix after pre-race issues

Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trust

McLaren confirmed around an hour before the race start that the team had identified an electronic issue on Norris’s car, with mechanics removing the floor to check a number of parts.

Despite the team expressing confidence that the problem had been rectified, Norris failed to make it out of the garage for the traditional pre-race reconnaissance laps.

Lando Norris vs Oscar Piastri: McLaren head-to-head statistics for F1 2026 season

F1 2026: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between teammates

F1 2026: Head-to-head race statistics between teammates

An issue was also spotted on Piastri’s car just moments before the start of the formation lap with the Australian returning to the garage.

He also failed to make it out in time for the race start.

In a post to social media, McLaren said: “Unfortunately we identified separate issues on both cars which prevented them from starting the Chinese GP, with Oscar’s being removed from the grid shortly before the formation lap.

“We will now work to identify each issue.”

It is the first time in the team’s history that McLaren has failed to make the start of a grand prix with two cars due to reliability.

The team also failed to make the start at the 1966 Belgian and Dutch grands prix, where just a single car – driven by late team founder Bruce McLaren – was entered. It also had both cars fail to qualify for the 1983 Monaco Grand Prix, when Niki Lauda and John Watson raced for the squad.

Piastri is also believed to be the first driver in F1 history to record a DNS in consecutive races.

He also failed to start his home race in Melbourne last weekend due to an accident on the reconnaissance lap.

The Audi of Gabriel Bortoleto was also pushed off the grid ahead of the race start with the Brazilian driver also recording a DNS.

Williams driver Alex Albon also failed to start due to a hydraulics issue, leaving just 18 cars on the grid.

Kimi Antonelli leads a Mercedes one-two ahead of George Russell in China having become the youngest-ever driver to set pole position on Saturday.

Lewis Hamilton starts third, one place ahead of Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc.

Max Verstappen, the Red Bull driver and four-time world champion, also suffered a brief scare ahead of the race start in China.

Red Bull mechanics were seen carrying out work on Verstappen’s rear wing on the grid.

Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.

You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!

Read next: F1 LIVE: Chinese Grand Prix updates as the race unfolds in Shanghai