Lando Norris reveals McLaren bet: ‘I thought we’d be 35s behind Ferrari’

Lando Norris has revealed that he lost a bet with his McLaren team after he beat both Ferraris in the Chinese Grand Prix.

Norris drove a perfect race to finish second in Shanghai, finishing ahead of Red Bull’s Sergio Perez.

Going into Sunday’s grand prix, McLaren expected to drop behind the two Ferraris after the difference in pace in the sprint.

Norris thought McLaren would finish around 35 seconds behind Ferrari in the race.

Instead, he came home just under 10 seconds ahead of Charles Leclerc.

This led to an amusing exchange with McLaren engineer William Joseph.

Norris: “I told you that we would get passed by the Ferraris…”

Joseph: “I wish I’d shook hands on that bet.”

Speaking to Nico Rosberg in the post-race interviews after the race, Norris conceded he was “surprised” by McLaren’s turn of speed.

“I was surprised by many things,” he said. “The lack of pace from Ferrari today, our good pace and I guess more us compared to the Red Bull which was surprising.

“So yeah, I mean I just wasn’t expecting today at all. I got everything ready to go home early and not be on the podium.

“So it’s a pleasant surprise but it shows the team has done a good job. We’re working hard and it’s paying off.”

Explaining the bet with McLaren, he added: “I made it a bet too how far behind the Ferrari we would finish today and I thought 35 seconds and I was very wrong by that,” he added

“So yeah happy to be wrong with myself for my own bets but yeah good day for everyone.”

Norris secured his second podium finish of the year, at a track McLaren expected to struggle on.

Team boss Andrea Stella conceded he thought this weekend was going to be “damage limitation”.

“We came here thinking it was a damage limitation event. But actually it was our most competitive event,” he explained.

“Pole position for the sprint. The sprint possibly would have been a second-placed finish if not for the issue at Corner 1. Yesterday, competitive in qualifying and again a strong race.

“We need to find something in our understanding but Formula 1 surprises you because it is sensitive to so many parameters. Good result, good surprise, great effort.”