Lando Norris: McLaren Off the Pace at Baku Practice

Lando Norris noted that McLaren’s performance was “quite a long way off” the front-runners at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix’s Friday practice. The Briton, currently 62 points behind Max Verstappen in the championship, revealed that McLaren was 0.3-0.4 seconds slower than the leading teams on the Baku track. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc topped the timesheets, narrowly edging out Red Bull’s Sergio Perez by 0.006 seconds.

Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes was third, 0.066 seconds behind Leclerc. Norris finished 17th after being impeded by Alpine’s Pierre Gasly but he considered team-mate Oscar Piastri’s fifth-place finish, 0.5 seconds off the pace, a more accurate reflection of McLaren’s position. Norris acknowledged that McLaren has “a lot to find” to match the pace of Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari attributing their struggles to the low-grip conditions in Baku.

Despite this, Norris’s lap was competitive until he encountered Gasly and Piastri showed potential during a race-simulation run later in the session. Leclerc’s fastest time came after a challenging day including a crash and a technical issue with a new car part. Despite the setbacks, Leclerc remained hopeful, noting that his car was competitive but acknowledging the need for improvement.

Red Bull appeared more competitive with an updated floor on their car, though Verstappen experienced understeer and had a near miss with the wall. Despite finishing 0.545 seconds off the pace, he viewed the day positively, highlighting the progress made. Mercedes also showed improvement with Hamilton reporting a “good day,” while George Russell faced issues with reliability and setup, finishing ninth and struggling with confidence.

Meanwhile, Oliver Bearman substituting for Kevin Magnussen at Haas secured 10th fastest just behind his teammate Nico Hulkenberg.