F1 News: McLaren Provide Health Update On Lando Norris After Las Vegas GP Crash Led To Hospital Visit
The McLaren Racing team offered a health update on their driver Lando Norris after he was taken to the hospital as a result of a serious Las Vegas GP crash. The British driver lost the rear of his MCL60 F1 car on the straight, which caused him to spin and hit the wall.
Fortunately, the team clarified that Norris had been discharged from the University Medical Center after being taken there for precautionary medical checks due to the harsh impact.
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With both McLaren drivers Norris and Oscar Piastri exiting Q1 on Friday, the former started from P15 on the grid. As he made his way up to P13 in the opening laps of the race, his MCL60's rear lost traction, causing him to lose control on the straight, and hit the wall approaching Turn 12. The car then managed to head into the run-off area before crashing into the barrier.
Luckily, Norris reassured his team over the radio that he was unharmed following the incident before undergoing an evaluation at the circuit's medical center. However, as a precaution, he was subsequently transported to the University Medical Center to ensure a comprehensive examination.
After his discharge, the McLaren driver offered an update on the incident. Speaking to the media, he said:
"An unfortunate end to our Las Vegas GP weekend.
"I just bottomed out on the restart, lost the rear and hit the wall. Not the way we wanted the weekend to end, especially considering the pace looked promising on Oscar’s side.
"Big thanks go to the medical staff for checking me over, and to the team for the work they’ll now put in on the car. One week to reset and go again for the season finale in Abu Dhabi.”
Revealing the cause of the incident, team principal Andrea Stella explained:
“There’s a bump in that place. There’s a bump and you can see all the cars spark when they go through this bump, and I think the combination of this bump and the cold tyres might have surprised him. Otherwise we don’t see any issue with the car or of a different nature.”
Explaining further as to why the same bump didn't affect the other drivers, he added:
“It’s the same bump for everyone.
“It just depends on your speed, the condition of your tyres, how your car is positioned over the bump there, the position of the car ahead, so there are multiple factors.
“Just maybe Lando made the assumption that there was enough grip, but it’s a very tricky place. I’m sure all drivers will comment that that’s something that needs to be fixed.”
Despite a difficult weekend, the team managed to earn two points, courtesy of Piastri's P10 finish as well as getting the fastest lap.