Lando Norris, the British driver for McLaren, expressed his surprise at losing a wager he had placed on Ferrari outperforming his team in the Chinese Grand Prix. Despite this, Norris secured a second-place finish in the race. He successfully maintained his starting position of fourth on the grid and swiftly overtook Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin to move into the top three. By strategically timing his pit stop during a Virtual Safety Car period, Norris was able to stay ahead of Sergio Perez. He then widened the gap between himself and Charles Leclerc of Ferrari, ultimately securing a comfortable lead over Perez and finishing ahead of both Red Bull drivers.
Norris, who had qualified ahead of both Ferrari cars, had anticipated that their superior race pace would lead them to overtake him. However, he was pleasantly surprised when Leclerc failed to catch up despite having the same strategy. Norris admitted that he was taken aback by the lack of pace from Ferrari and the strong performance of his own team compared to Red Bull. He had not expected to be on the podium and had even prepared to leave early. Nonetheless, Norris’s unexpected podium finish is a testament to the hard work and success of the McLaren team.
In a surprising revelation, Norris shared that he had placed a bet on how far behind the Ferrari drivers he would finish in the race. He had predicted a 35-second gap but was proven wrong. Despite losing the bet, Norris expressed his happiness with the team’s performance and the overall outcome of the race.