Big Norris crash at Eau Rouge red-flags qualifying

Lando Norris suffered a big crash at Eau Rouge in wet conditions to cause a red flag in qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix.

The McLaren driver had been fastest in both Q1 and Q2 and looked to be a real threat for his first pole position in Formula 1, but those two sessions took place on intermediate tires as a wet track slowly dried. Heavy rain at the start of Q3 saw the first few drivers head out on full wet tires and Sebastian Vettel radioed in saying there was too much standing water and the session should be red flagged.

Norris was the second car on the road after George Russell, but as he turned right up the hill exiting Eau Rouge the car started to slide, and he overcorrected, pitching him into a spin to the left. Norris hit the wall hard and spun across the track at Raidillon with a heavily damaged car, coming to rest in the run-off area.

https://twitter.com/F1/status/1431619160870723584

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Vettel was the first car on the scene and stopped to check on Norris as he approached, receiving the thumbs-up from the British youngster who said he was OK on team radio.

https://twitter.com/F1/status/1431619855543848961

"Yeah, well what the f**k did I say?” Vettel replied on his own radio when told of Norris’ crash ahead. “WHAT DID I SAY? Red flag! It’s unnecessary.”

Norris apologized to his team on the radio -- “Sorry boys, we should have had a good one there. I let you down. My bad” -- before he climbed from his car holding his left arm. Heavy rain then started to fall that delayed the resumption of the session further, although the session has now restarted.