Lando Norris skillfully completed the Chinese GP in second place, celebrating McLaren’s 50th one-two finish and taking the lead in the drivers’ championship. However, the British driver feared that his race could be compromised by a braking issue that turned the final part of the GP into a real ordeal. “The brake pedal is getting longer,” Norris reported over the radio, but the Woking team had already been aware of the issue for about 20 laps.
Team principal Andrea Stella explained that McLaren’s engineers had given Norris specific instructions on how to adjust his braking style because the issue was gradually worsening: “Lando and the team did an excellent job managing the situation and adapting braking to the problem, which kept getting worse and eventually put the result at risk. We knew the cause of the problem, but we didn’t want to reveal the reasons. I can say there was a fluid leak in the system.”
We tried to reconstruct what might have happened, considering that McLaren’s technicians assured Norris that there was no issue with the AP braking system. So, what happened? It’s possible that the minor leak emerged in the hydraulic system, which controls many functions of the car (DRS activation, power steering, clutch, differential, throttle). Among these is also the brake-by-wire system, which electronically manages rear braking by using kinetic energy recovered by the MGU-K during deceleration.
Brake-by-wire is crucial in ensuring the driver maintains consistent braking power at the rear by combining the standard braking system with energy from the hybrid system while recharging the battery. It’s no coincidence that chief designers have been able to reduce the size of the rear brakes, using smaller discs and four-piston calipers to save weight, since braking is partially compensated by the ERS.
With a hydraulic fluid loss, the effectiveness of the BBW gradually decreased lap by lap. Even if the mechanical braking system was intact and fully functional, the brake pump would have experienced a gradual overheating, causing the brake pedal to extend progressively.
Engineers then advised Norris via radio to avoid stamping hard on the brakes and instead modulate braking, as more and more of the braking force was shifting to the front wheels. In the final three laps, fully aware of the risk of losing the brakes altogether, Lando tackled corners by lifting off rather than braking aggressively, trying to control George Russell’s Mercedes, which was closing in dangerously and could have threatened his second-place finish.
Lando Norris was flawless, as he managed the crisis with composure and without emotional overreaction—something that had cost him key results in the past.
McLaren also proved itself to be a mature team, guiding its driver via radio with expertise and without unnecessary panic. The worst situation for any driver is losing braking capability altogether. Yet, the championship leader maintained an excellent race pace until the issue worsened and, despite the risk of a sudden brake lockup that could have sent him off track, he adapted his driving style masterfully, defending a crucial second place with courage and skill.
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