McLaren's Lando Norris was battling for survival in the closing laps of the French Grand Prix, as a hydraulic failure resulted in his car becoming unstable and impossible to drive..
Brit drive Norris began the race in 5th position but by lap 20 started problems had began to appear a loss of hydraulic pressure meant the driver was unable to utilize DRS and as the race continued the car appeared to begin to shut down with a number of the car's systems shutting down including:, the brakes, differentials and power steering .
However through sheer determination the young driver held onto his 7th position until the final lap when a last minute dash from Renaults Daniel Ricciardo saw him drop three places to P10 behind Daniel Ricciardo, Kimi Raikkonen and Nico Hulkenberg. However following two penalty points handed to Ricciardo for unsafe overtakes Norris was reclassified as ninth.
McLaren team boss Andreas Seidl said there were serious concerns the issue might end Norris's race altogether. "It was simply about engineers plus Lando trying to survive, which they did," said Seidl. "They did a great job in battling it through, because it was affecting gear shifting, braking, and power steering.
Explaining how difficult the car was becoming to drive, Norris told reporters after the race that the cars behavior became "quite unpredictable". "The braking was really inconsistent," he said, "Upshifts and downshifts were terrible, the power steering started to go. Then something with the traction and the diff started to go. "It was a whole load of problems, which weren't very nice to have!"
McLaren now sit in fourth place in the Constructors' standings
