Lando Norris says McLaren’s pace in Thursday’s practice sessions at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix was “pretty pants” and is not expecting to contend for pole position.
Norris was 1.5 seconds slower than pace-setter George Russell in second practice with the slow-speed 90-degree corners seemingly not suiting McLaren’s car.
McLaren have brought a major upgrade package to the car in Baku, including new sidepods, engine cover, diffuser and floor edge but the new parts have not instantly given them more performance.
“We are miles off. We are up there relative and in the position we expect to be in but we are 1.5 seconds off the pace. Pretty pants,” said Norris, who is 106 points behind championship leader Kimi Antonelli with nine rounds to go.
Asked if McLaren can close their practice deficit to Mercedes, he added: “I hope so. I have no idea. We will see what work we can do tonight. The car doesn’t feel that bad, so it’s a little knife in the heart when you see how far off you are.
“I just care about the pace and we are not very fast. I drive whatever car I get given. I just want it to be quick and it’s not very quick at the moment.”
Norris aborted a lap in second practice which likely would have put him at least within one second of Russell, who topped both practice sessions on Thursday.
McLaren chief technical officer Rob Marshall says it’s “early days” with the eight new items on the car and everything is working as expected.
“We had a lot of new bits on the car – a lot of learning. You put your package on and you need to learn how to dial it in and I don’t think we are there yet,” he said.
“I think the car is doing what we want it to do. The aero maps seem pretty happy. It’s just a matter of dialling the performance in.”
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Craig Slater breaks down the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, including why the race takes place on a Saturday, while doing his best Craig David impression!
Russell: I’m sure the gaps will tighten in qualifying
Qualifying takes place on Friday at 1pm with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix itself on Saturday at 12pm, all live on Sky Sports F1, as Sunday is Remembrance Day in Azerbaijan.
Although you can overtake in Baku, track position is still important because it’s a street circuit and Russell says “there’s still plenty of work” to do for Mercedes.
“It’s been a positive first day here in Baku. The car felt competitive over a single lap, and our race pace looks closely matched with McLaren and Red Bull,” he said.
“I’m sure those gaps will tighten even further when we get to qualifying tomorrow.”
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Kimi Antonelli ends the first practice session early after a hydraulics failure on his Mercedes
Kimi Antonelli suffered a hydraulics leak in first practice, then Mercedes were forced to change his engine ahead of second practice which cost him one hour of running in total.
But, the championship leader, who is 81 points ahead of Russell, was still in second in second practice and half a second off his team-mate.
“We tried to do the maximum with what we had. We lost quite a few laps in FP1 and missing half of FP2 is never ideal, especially on a street circuit,” said Antonelli.
“Overall, I feel like it was a good recovery. I feel quite good in the car. A few things to work on but looking forward to tomorrow.”
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Kimi Antonelli admits the early exit in P1 wasn’t ‘ideal’ for a street circuit like Azerbaijan but was pleased with his recovery in the second practice session
How are Ferrari and Red Bull feeling?
Max Verstappen was Mercedes’ closest challenger in the two practice sessions but still over eight tenths off the pace at the end of the day, despite Red Bull bringing upgrades to Baku.
Isack Hadjar was back in the car for the first time since the end of July after missing the last three race weekends due to a wrist injury he suffered in last month’s summer break.
Hadjar, who has been confirmed to remain as Verstappen’s team-mate in 2027, also lost valuable track time due to an engine problem in first practice but was still “pretty happy”.
“It feels good. I had a good feeling. Not many laps unfortunately but this will come. I’m not really worried too much about the pace,” he said.
“The feeling with this new package, we know the characteristics are the same with the car, but it feels nice – better than when I left it in Budapest.”
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Isack Hadjar admits he’s unsure of the new contract extension details and if he’ll remain at Red Bull beyond 2027, but hopes his driving will do the talking
Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were in the top five of both sessions but the seven-time world champion feels Ferrari are missing performance on the tyres and on the straights.
“I felt generally good in the car. The track is awesome to drive. FP1 I felt very strong and I thought we were doing well but in FP2 the others took another step,” said Hamilton, who has avoided a penalty for allegedly impeding Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson in second practice.
“It’s trying to understand, we didn’t change anything on the car, but the others took a step somehow. These tyres are really, really difficult to get to work. You do an out lap and a prep lap and they are still not in the window and still don’t provide you with the grip.
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Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson was not pleased with Lewis Hamilton after a near miss during the second practice session at the Azerbaijan GP
“When you do an extra lap, all of a sudden they switch up and you have tonnes more grip, so that’s a really fine line and really difficult to get working. But we try our best and some teams do it better than others. We have to look into that.
“Then our straight line speed is not as good as Mercedes. Whether we can close that deficit tomorrow, we will try to work on tonight. Otherwise, a fun day.”
Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur added: “The sessions were difficult to read. For sure, each parameter of performance – fuel, engine made a bigger difference compared to a normal track.
“They [the drivers] were not very pleased with the balance so we have a lot to do tonight to find a good solution for tomorrow.
Sky Sports F1’s Azerbaijan GP live schedule
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Look back at some of the most dramatic moments to have taken place around the Baku City Circuit
Friday September 25
5.10am: F2 Sprint*
9.15am: Azerbaijan GP Practice Three (session starts at 9.30am)*
11.10am: F2 Feature Race 1*
12.30pm: Azerbaijan GP Qualifying build-up*
1PM: AZERBAIJAN GP QUALIFYING*
3pm: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook
Saturday September 26
7.55am: F2 Feature Race 2
10.30am: Grand Prix Sunday: Azerbaijan GP build-up*
12PM: THE AZERBAIJAN GRAND PRIX*
2pm: Chequered Flag: Azerbaijan GP reaction*
3pm: Ted’s Notebook*
*also live on Sky Sports Main Event
Racing on a Saturday! The 2026 Formula 1 season continues live on Sky Sports F1 this week as the Azerbaijan Grand Prix kicks off a triple-header of races, with the Baku race taking place on Saturday at midday. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: skynews.com
