First setback for McLaren in the hunt for the world title: Lando Norris fails to make it past Q1 and will start from seventeenth position after qualifying for the Baku GP. The disastrous qualifying of the Englishman of the Papaya team also puts to the test the possibility of worrying Max Verstappen for the drivers' title. Norris has not missed the appointment with Q3 since qualifying in Las Vegas 2023. It seems that the reason for the error was the yellow flags waved in front of Norris during his flying lap. At this point the British driver had to slow down or risk a penalty for failure to slow down under the yellow flag. By preferring the first option he lost the chance to improve his time. He stopped in the pit lane instead of crossing the timing line to confirm his early exit from the session.
McLaren's statements after qualifying for the Baku GP
“I didn't complete the lap because the yellow flag panel appeared even though the track in front of me had already been cleared,” he declared the McLaren driver who is 62 points behind championship leader Max Verstappen. “The first lap was fine, but I had to do the second lap to improve the time and I didn’t manage to do it. Everyone did their second laps and I didn’t do it, so just unlucky, that’s all. I think with the lap I was completing I would have finished second, it’s a bit frustrating, but I think I can do well.”
The team principal of the Woking team, Andrea Stella, is of the same opinion: “It was a very unlucky qualifying for Lando. We are discussing with the FIA why the unnecessary yellow flag was shown there and at that moment, there was only one car that was going slower. This mistake cost us a lot in the economy of this weekend”.
In any case, McLaren should have the potential to climb the positions that pay important points. However, it will be much more difficult to aim for the podium due to its low position on the grid on a track that is complicated in terms of overtaking. In his post-qualifying statements for the Baku GP, Norris continued: “Tomorrow we have a long race ahead and a set of tyres that can guarantee us good results. The car is fast, so we can do well”. His teammate, Oscar Piastri, will start from the second box despite a rather chaotic qualifying session.
