Lando Norris had a disappointing weekend in Saudi Arabia two weeks ago, as he lost the lead in the championship to McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri. Having led the drivers’ standings after the first four Grands Prix, Norris now trails the Australian by 10 points.
It all went wrong for the Briton during the Saudi Arabian GP qualifying session. After comfortably progressing through both Q1 and Q2, Norris suffered a huge crash during his first run in the final part of qualifying. While he lost the chance to clinch pole position and ended up qualifying in 10th, his physical well-being after a crash like that was a bigger cause of concern.
As is the case with any massive accident, the drivers are taken to the medical center for check-ups. The 25-year-old was also taken to a medical center located on the track.
However, due to a miscommunication with his team, he was left all alone. The Jeddah Corniche Center has two medical facilities — one is the Paddock Clinic and the other is the Anti-Doping Clinic. So, where was Norris taken?
Veteran F1 photojournalist Kym Illman revealed via his Instagram handle that Norris was taken to the Paddock Clinic, which is located near turn 22. Meanwhile, his entourage made their way to the Anti-Doping Clinic located near the paddock swipe gate.
“They were under the impression he was taken there, as were the Netflix crew that also tagged along,” Illman revealed. Since Norris’ trainer could not find the 25-year-old in the Anti-Doping clinic, he went to the race control building to see whether they had any information about the McLaren driver’s whereabouts.
Since there was such miscommunication, F1 fans have flagged how concerning it is that none of them knew where Norris was taken. “The fact that the team didn’t know where he was is not acceptable,” one fan wrote.
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Meanwhile, another expressed concerns with Norris perhaps not having been given adequate medical treatment that he needed. “The sad part is that they wanted him to face the media immediately after a crash, which was not a small one”, another user commented. “That just does not seem right”.
But with Illman revealing that Norris was all smiles once he returned from the center, perhaps there was nothing indeed to worry about other than his disappointing performance that weekend. Norris will just hope that he can now put in a better show this weekend in Miami, where he registered his maiden F1 victory last year.
