F1 | Bitumen mystery: Norris wallows, but the race remains a puzzle

The rain that arrived on the Shanghai circuit before the SQ3 session upset the values ​​on the field. The liquid layer of bitumen spread over a large area of ​​the track made the wet surface extremely slippery, and the ten drivers on track for eight intense minutes had to fight with very low grip which made control of the single-seaters hell.

The first objective was to stay on track, the second to try to set the fastest time possible. Lando Norris emerged from the chaos, not without a little mystery. The race direction had canceled the best lap achieved by Lando due to track limits at turn 16 in the previous lap, a measure that was then reinstated a few seconds before the checkered flag.

As usual, the FIA ​​canceled the time obtained on the lap in which the infringement occurred and, as is customary when there is an excursion in the last corner, an automatic system also cancels the following lap.

This is because a driver could benefit from not respecting the track limit of the last corner by increasing the exit speed. Although this is standard practice, the race direction realized that Norris had not gained any advantage in this circumstance (Andrea Stella later estimated that Norris lost at least three tenths in that situation) and therefore manually restored the tour. Good for Lando that nothing explicit about this was explicitly stated in the pre-race notes, since in that case the time would not have been returned.

It would have been a joke for Norris to be deprived of pole position in a session in which he was clearly the fastest on track. “Today, compliments go in particular to Lando – Andrea Stella wanted to underline – in these conditions it is really the driver who makes the difference, and he made it today. The only regret remains for Piastri, he had a problem exiting the hairpin. Due to the wheels slipping, his gearbox went into neutral, losing a lot of time, otherwise we could have had our two drivers leading the grid of the sprint race”.

Norris and McLaren undoubtedly deserved the result obtained, but questions remain about the management of the state of the track, the real crazy variable of the day. Both Pirelli and the teams were not informed of the treatment given to the asphalt surface, finding themselves dealing with a very different track than the one tested on the simulators, calibrated on the parameters provided by the FIA ​​and Pirelli.

Mario Isola, Racing Manager of Pirelli Motorsport

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

The liquid bitumen-based surface treatment was applied last year on some sections of the track to help reduce the degradation of the old asphalt, creating areas with greater grip and others that are more slippery, as was clearly seen in the SQ3 session.

The FIA ​​normally informs the teams before the race weekends about any changes made to the world championship tracks, but in this case nothing was communicated. In the paddock there are those who claim that the FIA ​​was aware of the situation, but that it considered the work carried out on the circuit not particularly relevant.

If the weather forecast is respected, there should no longer be any risk of rain for the rest of the weekend, news mostly welcomed with big smiles. There are still many question marks, but in this case due to the format of the sprint weekend.

In the absence of long runs, tomorrow's race will provide indications on the race pace. The teams are aiming blindly, the sprint race should be tackled with medium tyres, while on Sunday the hards will take center stage. All of this, however, with a very different reliability rate than usual, therefore with potential surprises around the corner, exactly as it is today.