Lando Norris needed a new pair of pants after a slip ahead of German Grand Prix
F1 News
Lando Norris was one of seven drivers to record a DNF during Sunday's wet German Grand Prix. The McLaren driver didn't fall foul of the slippy conditions though as a mechanical problem forced his McLaren out of the race. The Brit says he learnt his lessons on the way to the grid where the slippy drag strip caused him to need a new pair of pants!
Before Sunday, 19-year-old Norris wouldn't have had the opportunity to drive a Formula 1 car in the heavy rain. Teams and drivers treated their runs to the grid as an extra practice session as barely data in wet conditions had been recorded during the 2019 F1 season.
Norris was keen to experience the drag strip at the end of the lap which caught so many drivers out including Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton. During his test, he revealed how scary it was!
“The only thing that was stupid that led to a lot of crashes was the drag strip. 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," Norris told Motorsportweek.com.
“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.”