Lando Norris will be absent from today’s media activities at the Interlagos as he is unwell, but his team expect him to return in time for tomorrow’s track action.
McLaren confirmed their driver has a suspected case of food poisoning and will remain in their hotel to rest today. “We expect him back at the track tomorrow,” said a team spokesperson.
This is the second time this year Norris has been afflicted by illness during a race weekend. He was unwell during the Spanish Grand Prix, when he said he was “suffering with my throat and my eyes and seeing”, but scored points with an eighth-place finish.
The first practice session for the Brazilian Grand Prix is due to begin at 12:30pm local time tomorrow. As this is a sprint race weekend, qualifying will take place a day earlier than usual, on Friday, at 4pm.
Ordinarily teams are only permitted to change drivers during race weekends prior to the start of qualifying. However, during sprint race weekends, that deadline is extended until the start of second practice, which will begin at 12:30pm local time on Saturday.
If McLaren requires a substitute driver, it can call on Mercedes’ reserves. These are Nyck de Vries, who took over from the unwell Alexander Albon for Williams in the Italian Grand Prix, and Stoffel Vandoorne, who raced for McLaren between 2016 and 2018.
McLaren arrives at the penultimate race weekend of the season in a close fight with Alpine for fourth place in the championship, trailing its rival by just seven points.
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2022 Brazilian Grand Prix
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