‘Too many mistakes’ for Lando Norris as Oscar Piastri secures pole in China

Lando Norris admitted he is “paying the price for not doing a good enough job” after McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri raised the championship stakes by taking pole position for the Chinese Grand Prix.

Norris arrived for the second round of the season in Shanghai leading the title race for the first time in his life.

But after he made two mistakes in qualifying for Saturday’s sprint event – and then ran off the road on the first lap of the dash to the chequered flag to finish only eighth – he will start third for Sunday’s main event.

Piastri landed the first pole of his career as Mercedes’ George Russell split the two McLaren drivers to take second.

The starting grid for Sunday's Shanghai showdown