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Alex Wurz believes that four drivers not starting the Chinese Grand Prix is a ‘debacle’ for Formula 1.
The Chinese Grand Prix had drama before the race began on Sunday, as four of the 22 drivers had to pull out of the race before it had even begun.
Neither of the McLaren drivers, Lando Norris nor Oscar Piastri, were able to start, along with Williams’ Alex Albon and Audi’s Gabriel Bortoletto.
This was an unusual turn of events for Formula 1 as the 22-driver grid had been thinned out to 18 before the race began, and only 15 drivers took the chequered flag at the end of the Grand Prix.
Disaster for Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, Alex Albon and Gabriel Bortoleto as they fail to start the Chinese Grand Prix!
Alex Wurz says it ‘would be a debacle’ if this continues
During the opening episode of the Lift and Roast podcast, Alex Wurz discussed the Chinese Grand Prix and was asked about four drivers not starting the race on Sunday.
A lot has been said about four drivers not even starting the second race of the season, and Wurz has said it could become a ‘debacle’ for Formula 1 if this continues.
Wurz said, “So, this isn’t a debacle for the teams, and not for Formula 1. It would be a debacle if, as a fundamentally high-tech industry, we couldn’t resolve this in the next few races.
“And we’ll see, as always, that the engineers will go full throttle and find the solutions – and once they have them, the cars will improve, and the races will improve. The strategies will improve. So that’s the essence of Formula 1: to keep developing without losing performance, and every now and then we have these reliability issues, but they’ll be resolved.”
Is Lando Norris’ championship title defence already over?
McLaren are struggling at the start of the 2026 F1 season
After winning the 2025 Formula 1 Constructors Championship and Drivers Championship, many expected McLaren to continue their strong form in 2026.
However, Norris finished fifth in the opening race before failing to start the second race. After the Chinese Grand Prix, David Coulthard suggested that Norris is not enjoying the 2026 regulations.
Coulthard said, “But, I don’t know if you picked up as well that simmering below was Lando. Lando’s not really enjoying [this season].”
On the other side of the garage, Piastri has not completed a lap of a Grand Prix after crashing on the sighting lap in Australia and failing to start again in China. This has put Piastri in a poor position for the 2027 F1 driver market as he has not raced in a Grand Prix in 2026.
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