Formula 1 Austrian GP

Norris explains why anti-stall kicked in during Austria F1 sprint race

Lando Norris says “unlucky” circumstance in hitting the brakes as his rear wheels lost grip triggered the anti-stall that wrecked his hopes in Formula 1’s Austrian Grand Prix sprint race.

Jonathan Noble

Jonathan Noble

Edited: Jul 2, 2023, 10:33 AM

Copy link

Share on Facebook

Share on Twitter

Share on WhatsApp

Share on Linkedin

Share on Pinterest

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL60

The McLaren driver had headed into Saturday’s sprint as Red Bull’s potential main challenger after qualifying third behind Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez. But it all went wrong at Turn 3, as an opportunity to pounce on his Red Bull rivals nearly tripping over themselves evaporated when his car went into anti-stall and delayed him.

Read Also:

Norris did not know at the time of the incident exactly what had happened, but data that emerged in the engineering debrief later highlighted the specifics of what happened. 

Asked by Motorsport.com to explain why the anti-stall came in, Norris said: “It's more that I lost the rear as I turned into the corner, just because the tyres are cold and it's a bit difficult to get the inters to work straight away.

“So I lost the rear and kind of slid further up the track and almost into them [the Red Bulls]. To avoid that, I had to hit the brakes again and, at such a slow speed with basically zero grip, I locked the rear tyres quite a bit, putting me into the anti-stall. 

Lando Norris, McLaren

Lando Norris, McLaren

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

“It was just more of a very unlucky situation than I think anything being a problem from what I'm aware of. And that's literally it. I think it was just unlucky at the time. I didn't feel like I went in too hard, I didn't feel like I overshot. I just turned in, I lost the rears with cold tyres on the first lap, and that is how it happens sometimes.” 

He added: “It was unfortunate, because it cost me the rest of the race, as we had a chance to score some good points and probably fight the Astons I would say throughout the whole race.” 

Despite the disappointment with the result of the sprint race, Norris says the weekend overall has been encouraging so far with him having made the most of an extensive overhaul of his McLaren. 

“I think it’s performed as expected from the first run in FP1,” he said. “That is always a positive sign that we can make something and develop something, with the confidence of knowing that it works well. That’s always a very good thing to have, especially on a weekend like this where you have FP1 and go straight into quali.”

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Read also :

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Facebook

Share on Twitter

Share on WhatsApp

Share on Linkedin

Share on Pinterest

Share on Viber

Previous article Verstappen: "Totally unnecessary" to restart Spa race that claimed life of van 't Hoff

Next article Why Ferrari has glimmers of hope to be racing Red Bull in the Austrian GP

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

More from

Jonathan Noble



Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours

Formula 1

Formula 1

Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours



The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season

Formula 1

Formula 1

The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season



Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress

Formula 1

Formula 1

Australian GP

Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress

More from

Lando Norris



McLaren to introduce 2027 F1 front wing at Brazil GP

Formula 1

Formula 1

Sao Paulo GP

15 h

McLaren to introduce 2027 F1 front wing at Brazil GP



"Two steps forward, one step back" – Oscar Piastri explains the route out of McLaren's car woes

Formula 1

Formula 1

Mexican GP

"Two steps forward, one step back" – Oscar Piastri explains the route out of McLaren's car woes



F1 doesn't need to change its VSC rules despite Lando Norris' Spain loss

Formula 1

Spanish GP

F1 doesn't need to change its VSC rules despite Lando Norris' Spain loss

More from

McLaren



Penalty drops Oscar Piastri out of F1 Mexico GP points

Formula 1

Formula 1

Mexican GP

Penalty drops Oscar Piastri out of F1 Mexico GP points



Why McLaren gave team order to Oscar Piastri in F1 US GP

Formula 1

Formula 1

United States GP

Why McLaren gave team order to Oscar Piastri in F1 US GP



Why Oscar Piastri has struggled to show his best with this year's McLaren MCL40

Formula 1

Why Oscar Piastri has struggled to show his best with this year's McLaren MCL40

Latest news



NASCAR VP explains Carson Hocevar, Josh Berry penalties

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Martinsville II

9 h

NASCAR VP explains Carson Hocevar, Josh Berry penalties



Colton Herta to run Cadillac FP1 in Brazil as FIA superlicense quest continues

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

Mexican GP

9 h

Colton Herta to run Cadillac FP1 in Brazil as FIA superlicense quest continues



NASCAR issues penalties to Carson Hocevar and Josh Berry for Martinsville brake-checks

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Martinsville II

10 h

NASCAR issues penalties to Carson Hocevar and Josh Berry for Martinsville brake-checks



NASCAR making progress with short track show but drivers still want more

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Martinsville II

11 h

NASCAR making progress with short track show but drivers still want more

Feature

Discover prime content



How Ryo Hirakawa performed on his surprise F1 debut in Mexico

Formula 1

Mexican GP

By Jake Boxall-Legge

How Ryo Hirakawa performed on his surprise F1 debut in Mexico



Lewis Hamilton needs “serious talks” with himself and his team-mate

Formula 1

Mexican GP

By Stuart Codling

Lewis Hamilton needs “serious talks” with himself and his team-mate



How Ferrari's loss became Max Verstappen's gain at F1's Mexico GP

Formula 1

Mexican GP

By Jake Boxall-Legge

How Ferrari's loss became Max Verstappen's gain at F1's Mexico GP



The seven moments that defined Kimi Antonelli's F1 title win in 2026

Formula 1

Mexican GP

By Jake Boxall-Legge

The seven moments that defined Kimi Antonelli's F1 title win in 2026

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts

Subscribe