McLaren has launched an investigation with engine supplier Mercedes to investigate why both of its cars suffered terminal electrical faults that ruled them out of the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday, as Formula 1 champion Lando Norris said the team must rule out a repeat.
Norris was stuck waiting in his car in McLaren's garage before time ran out for him to join the grid, and teammate Oscar Piastri had to be withdrawn from the grid minutes before the start with what McLaren termed separate electrical problems with its Mercedes-supplied power unit. Piastri was due to start fifth and Norris sixth.
It was the first time in Norris' eight-season F1 career that he has missed a race and Piastri's second missed race in a row after crashing on his way to the grid at his home race in Australia.
“We just have to take it on the chin, learn what the problem was, and make sure it never happens again,” Norris said. “Everyone in the team is frustrated, our engineers, mechanics and HPP (Mercedes High Performance Powertrains) teammates. All of us want to go racing and score points.”
McLaren said a “joint investigation” with Mercedes' HPP engine operation would be launched.
McLaren has so far failed to match the pace of the works Mercedes team, whose drivers have won both Grand Prix races and the sole sprint race under the new 2026 regulations, which put more emphasis on electrical power. McLaren has previously said it's concerned with what it considers a lack of information on how to get the best out of the Mercedes systems.
Four cars in total failed to start Sunday, including Gabriel Bortoleto's Audi and the Mercedes-powered Williams of Alex Albon, which had a hydraulic-system failure.
There are also concerns at Aston Martin after a double retirement for the reliability-plagued team. Lance Stroll's race ended early with a battery failure, a repeat issue with its Honda power unit. Aston Martin said “discomfort from vibrations” forced Fernando Alonso to stop.
Aston Martin team principal Adrian Newey this month said his car was shaking so much it risked “permanent nerve damage” in its drivers' hands without major improvements.
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain watches the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix race at the Shanghai International Circuit, in Shanghai, China, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal prosecutors released a video Thursday showing the moment authorities say a man armed with guns and knives tried to storm the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner and attempt to kill President Donald Trump.
Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for Washington, posted the video on social media amid questions over whose bullet struck a Secret Service officer as Cole Tomas Allen ran through security with a long gun toward the hotel ballroom packed with journalists, administration officials and others.
Prosecutors had previously claimed the agent was shot in the bullet-resistant vest during the melee, but had not confirmed it was Allen who shot the agent. Pirro, however, said Thursday that there is no evidence that the officer was hit by friendly fire.
The video appears to show Allen run through a magnetometer and point his weapon at the agent, who fired back five times, according to authorities. It's not clear from the video at what moment Allen's weapon fires.
Allen was injured but was not shot during the Saturday night attack at the Washington Hilton, which disrupted one of the highest-profile annual events in the nation’s capital.
Allen agreed earlier Thursday to remain jailed while he awaits trial. He did not enter a plea during his brief appearance in federal court.
Secret Service Director Sean Curran defended the agency's security plan for the event and said he would not change it. He said in a Fox News interview that the attack was stopped within seconds at the outermost perimeter of a multi-layered security bubble around the president. The distance from the magnetometers to the podium where Trump was seated was 355 feet, with two sets of stairs, a doorway and many more armed Secret Service officers in between, he said.
"The site was set up perfectly," Curran said.
The nearly six-minute video released by Pirro shows Allen walking back and forth down a hallway the day before the attack, and briefly checking out the hotel gym. Footage from the security checkpoint shows about a dozen federal officers taking down magnetometers and casually standing around when the gunman emerges from a doorway and starts sprinting toward them. The gunman quickly reaches the officers before most of them appear to notice him.
Only one officer visible in the video appears to have drawn his gun before the gunman passed; Pirro said he's the one who was shot and returned fire.
In court papers pressing for Allen's continued detention, prosecutors wrote Wednesday that Allen took a picture of himself in his hotel room just minutes before the incident, and that he was outfitted with an ammunition bag, a shoulder gun holster and a sheathed knife. In a message that authorities say sheds light on his motive, Allen referred to himself as a “Friendly Federal Assassin” and alluded obliquely to grievances over a range of Trump administration actions.
Allen’s lawyers agreed during the brief hearing before U.S. Magistrate Moxila Upadhyaya to keep their client behind bars for now after initially arguing in court papers that Allen should be released.
In a court filing Wednesday, the defense wrote that the government’s case is “based upon inferences drawn about Mr. Allen’s intent that raise more questions than answers" and noted that Allen’s writings never mentioned Trump by name. The defense left the door open to pressing in the future for Allen’s release before trial.
“The government’s evidence of the charged offense — the attempted assassination of the president — is thus built entirely upon speculation, even under the most generous reading of its theory,” defense lawyers wrote.
Allen was charged on Monday with that crime, as well as two additional firearms counts, including discharging a weapon during a crime of violence. He faces up to life in prison if convicted of the assassination count alone.
Allen, 31, is from Torrance, California. He worked as a part-time tutor for a test preparation company and is an amateur video game developer.
Associated Press writer Jonathan J. Cooper in Phoenix contributed.
This courtroom sketch depicts Cole Tomas Allen, seated center, the California man arrested in the shooting incident at the correspondents dinner in Washington, seen appearing before U.S. Magistrate Moxila Upadhyaya, in federal court, Thursday, April 30, 2026 in Washington. (Dana Verkouteren via AP)
This courtroom sketch depicts Cole Tomas Allen, seated center, the California man arrested in the shooting incident at the correspondents dinner in Washington, seen appearing before U.S. Magistrate Moxila Upadhyaya, in federal court, Thursday, April 30, 2026 in Washington. (Dana Verkouteren via AP)
President Donald Trump speaks in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House after an unspecified threat at the annual White House Correspondents' Association Dinner in Washington, Saturday, April 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
This image contained in a court filing by the Department of Justice, April 29, 2026, shows some of the weapons and shotgun ammunition that Cole Tomas Allen possessed, Saturday, April 25, 2026 in Washington. (Department of Justice via AP)
U.S. Secret Service agents surround President Donald Trump before he was taken from the stage after a shooting incident outside the ballroom during the White House Correspondents Dinner, Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
This image contained in a court filing by the Department of Justice, April 29, 2026, shows Cole Tomas Allen, left, inside his hotel room, on Saturday, April 25, 2026 in Washington, using his cellphone to take a photograph of himself in the mirror. An enhanced version of the image is right. (Department of Justice via AP)
U.S. Secret Service agents respond on stage during the White House Correspondents Dinner, Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
