Lando Norris said his crash during the early laps of the Las Vegas Grand Prix last week wasn’t as bad as it appeared, and chalked the incident up to a combination of factors.

“The obvious one being is there’s quite a big bump there,” Norris told reporters ahead of this weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. “Then cool tires, so therefore lower ride heights than what you’re normally running with. … The first time following a lot of cars through all of this, you have even less downforce than what you already have.

“A couple of other little things in the background that just made this bump have a bigger effect than what it normally has.

“I somehow must have caught it at a worse angle than normal. I knew there was a bump there but just for some reason, the affect of it on this one lap is a lot bigger than what it had been previously. So just a little bit unlucky at the same time.”

There was some initial concern for Norris, who was taken to a nearby hospital. He was released soon after and said, “Honestly, I was never that bad.”

The McLaren driver said he was winded from the impact in Turn 12, and that he was caught off guard by the accident.

“It happened quite quickly, it was still a decent impact. But I was fine. I never struggled with anything,” Norris said. “I was more just frustrated that I was out of the race in Vegas so early on. It was more just a shame. But I was fine.

“A little shaken at first, just because it caught me by surprise so much.”

Norris arrived in Las Vegas with five podiums in the previous six races. He is currently sixth with 195 points, five points behind Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso entering the season finale.

–Field Level Media