Norris, McLaren seeking answers over Canada car failure

Lando Norris was left frustrated after a severe mechanical failure on his McLaren Formula 1 car ended his hopes of points in Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix.

Norris qualified eighth and made a strong start to keep Red Bull’s Max Verstappen at bay early on, only to be forced to retire eight laps into the rear when his right-rear suspension failed.

While Norris was able to park up safely and avoid an accident, the Briton said after the race that both he and the team were unsure what had caused such a sudden failure.

Asked what had happened to his car, Norris said: “I don’t know. I don’t really have an answer for that.

“Neither do the team. There’s nothing obvious from what we can see on the data, what was the cause.

“We need to get the car back and have a look but obviously it was a severe problem which forced me to stop. It needs to be investigated to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

It marked a second retirement for Norris in the last three races, as well as continuing his streak without points that stretches to the end of April.

The McLaren driver said he “definitely” felt like he was in contention for points, even if he doubted he could have risen towards the top-end of the midfield.

“It wasn’t for a load of points, but still for points. Especially as Renault got a good amount of them today, it would be good to have a few in the bag as well,” Norris said.

“It was frustrating, especially happening so early on. The whole weekend in general was looking reasonably good in terms of our pace, started our weekend off pretty well.

“A bit annoying, but we move on to France.”