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SHANGHAI — Formula 1 champion Lando Norris and his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri were both unable to start the Chinese Grand Prix after hitting technical problems minutes before the race began.
Piastri was due to start fifth and Norris sixth for Sunday's race. Norris was in his car in the pits but didn't leave for the grid, before Piastri was then withdrawn from the grid following a radio message which indicated an electrical issue.
"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," McLaren said.
It's the second time Piastri has failed to start in 2026 after he crashed before the start of last week's race in Australia.
Kimi Antonelli was seeking to convert his record-breaking pole position into a first career win but will have to stay ahead of his Mercedes teammate George Russell.
Antonelli became the youngest driver to qualify on pole position for an F1 Grand Prix race Saturday. The 19-year-old Italian starts on the front row alongside Russell, who recovered from technical problems to post the second-fastest time.
They're looking to continue Mercedes dominance in F1's new era of regulations after Russell won last week's Australian Grand Prix and the sprint race in China on Saturday.
Lewis Hamilton of Ferrari briefly got ahead of Antonelli at the start but the Italian took the place back soon after.
F1 is racing hours after it announced next month's races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia will not go ahead because of the war in the Middle East.
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