Norris: Not exaggerating, I shat myself

Michelle Foster
Lando Norris wearing a precautionary leg brace ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix.

Lando Norris wearing a precautionary leg brace ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix.

Lando Norris feared he would crash out of the German Grand Prix on his way to the grid, saying he “shat” himself when he touched the Hockenheim drag strip.

Norris’ Sunday afternoon at the Hockenheimring ended when his McLaren lost power, however, it could have been over before it even began.

Making his way to the grid on a wet track, Norris tried to find the perfect line and ran a bit wide, heading onto the kerbs and putting wheels onto the drag strip.

He almost crashed.

“The only thing that was stupid that led to a lot of crashes was the drag strip,” he told RaceFans.net.

“Luckily, I did it on my laps to the grid, because we had an onboard that we had to watch, the one magic lap from Fernando [Alonso] when he was with Ferrari, and he goes two wheels over the kerb, onto the drag strip, and everything looks fine.

“So I did my lap to the grid, I tried it, and I genuinely thought I was going to be out of the race before I even started.

“I put the clutch in, full opposite lock, I’m not exaggerating, I shat myself!

“I was like oh shit this is not going to be good because the guys were waiting there to put me up on the jacks and put me in my positions, and I had the biggest fright of my life.”

Like Charles Leclerc, the rookie reckons changes need to be made as while he was lucky, others paid a hefty price for touching the drag strip tarmac.

He added: “Every person that made a small mistake, just lost the rear or under-steered a bit into the last two corners, went onto the drag strip and you just see the fricking… it’s like you accelerate, nothing you can do.

“It’s probably quite dangerous to be honest because you don’t slow down on the tarmac run-off there. Approaching at a decent speed, as soon as you hit it you can’t do anything.

“There’s no point braking, even. That’s something I think needs to be changed for next time.”

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