F1 News: McLaren Calls For Las Vegas GP Track Changes After Lando Norris Crash

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella called for track changes to prevent accidents in the future.

After Lando Norris crashed his McLaren MCL60 F1 car on Lap 4 of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, team principal Andrea Stella called for a modification of the race track on the spot of the incident that supposedly contributed to Norris losing control of his car. 

The British driver experienced a weekend that he may not like to recall in the future after losing control of his McLaren F1 car at turn 11, which caused him to spin and crash against the barriers before the car moved towards the escape area. 

Fortunately, Norris was unhurt, but the impact of the crash meant he had to be taken to a nearby hospital for further precautionary checks. The team eventually confirmed that Norris was discharged without problems. 

The sudden and bizarre crash raised several questions. However, Stella has confirmed that it wasn’t a car failure that triggered the nasty accident. He told the media:

“There’s a bump in that place.

“You can see all cars sparkle when they go through this bump. I think the combination of the bump and the cold tyres might have surprised him.”

The team boss added that it is important that the bump is addressed before next year's Grand Prix. He said:

“I think that bump, if we carry on racing at nighttime, should be fixed, because the tyres will always be cold, low grip and it becomes a very tricky corner.

“Already during the weekend, we saw cases of oversteer in that place. So, independently of the timetable, we would strongly recommend that this bump is smoothened out.”

While many drivers struggled for grip, Stella believes Norris got caught in the moment in such a position with the colder temperatures, heavy fuel, and maybe even some aerodynamic disturbance from teammate Oscar Piastri just in front of him that triggered the loss of traction. He continued:

“In fairness, it’s the same bump for everyone, so it just depends on your speed.

“The condition of your tyres, potentially how your car is positioned there, how close you are to the car ahead. There are multiple factors. Maybe Lando made a kind of assumption that there was enough grip."