Lando Norris entered the Azerbaijan GP hoping to close the gap in the championship battle after a poor qualifying session the day before. Despite a second opportunity presented by Oscar Piastri’s early retirement on the opening lap, Norris ultimately finished seventh, unable to convert the chance into a stronger result during the race.
Missed Opportunity Following Early Race Incident
Norris’s chance to reduce his championship deficit came immediately after Oscar Piastri, the championship leader, suffered a disastrous start. Piastri’s jump start pushed him to the back of the field, and in trying to recover quickly, he crashed into the wall at Turn 5, ending his streak of consecutive race finishes. This incident handed Norris a rare advantage early on, putting him in a position where every place gained would have significant championship implications.
Starting the race on medium tyres, Norris aimed to exploit the initial grip to climb the order. However, his progress stalled quickly as he was overtaken by Hadjar in the second DRS zone on the first lap, dropping him to eighth. A Safety Car intervention grouped the field, but Norris still lost ground at the restart, falling behind Charles Leclerc on the main straight. He only regained a position when Hadjar experienced technical difficulties soon after.
With Norris stuck behind Leclerc, overtaking proved elusive on Baku’s tight street circuit, which offers limited passing chances, especially on a low-grip race day. Remaining in seventh after the restart might have allowed Norris to leverage fresher tyres to challenge Yuki Tsunoda, who ran on harder C4 compounds. Telemetry data later showed slight pace gains once Leclerc pitted on lap 20, but Norris never closed the gap enough to mount a serious attack before making his pit stop on lap 38. The gap to Tsunoda remained largely unchanged until then.
Technical and Circuit Challenges Limited McLaren’s Performance
McLaren’s struggles at Baku can be attributed to the unique demands of the track and the characteristics of their MCL39 car. Typically, McLaren thrives by blending strong race pace with superior tyre management, but Azerbaijan’s low-downforce and low-grip environment did not exert enough stress on the tyres to highlight those advantages.
During the second stint, Norris found himself locked in a DRS train alongside Charles Leclerc, Tsunoda, and Liam Lawson. On Baku’s 2.2 km main straight, the limited effectiveness of DRS significantly reduced overtaking opportunities, leaving Norris trapped with little chance to advance.
McLaren engineers were aware of these limitations, which suggested adopting a different strategy to gain track position, but this approach did not materialize successfully during the race.
Strategic Decisions That Could Have Altered the Outcome
In retrospect, starting on hard tyres and switching later to mediums could have been more advantageous for Norris. The race, after the early Safety Car, was mostly incident-free, providing no further safety interruptions to shake up strategy.
The chosen strategy of starting on medium tyres relied on Norris maximizing early grip and positions gained, but instead, he lost two places during the initial green-flag laps. Being stuck behind slower cars without viable passing chances forced McLaren to bide their time for a pit stop window that could leapfrog Leclerc.
That moment came on lap 38, but a pit stop slower than average by around two seconds cost Norris crucial track position. He rejoined the circuit 1.3 seconds behind Leclerc instead of ahead, nullifying the strategic advantage planned by the team.
Race Developments and Final Standings
Red Bull quickly countered McLaren’s move by pitting Tsunoda immediately on the next lap, ensuring he kept position ahead of both Leclerc and Norris. This sequence meant Norris was left unable to break away from the DRS pack that limited his progression for the remainder of the race.
Without the initial lost positions and the slow pit stop, Norris would likely have cleared the DRS train and secured at least a fifth-place finish. In that spot, he might have even challenged Antonelli, who did not appear to have defensive cover from a car ahead. While a podium finish was unlikely, a stronger result remained within reach.
In the end, Norris trimmed the points gap to his teammate by just six points, reducing the deficit to 25. Although this was a modest gain, it keeps the championship fight alive as the season enters its critical final phase.
Looking Ahead: Championship Battle Beyond Azerbaijan
With seven races remaining, the fight between Norris and Piastri remains wide open. The upcoming circuits are expected to play more into McLaren’s strengths, such as better tyre wear and race pace, unlike the difficult conditions faced in Baku.
As the season progresses toward its conclusion in Las Vegas, scheduled for late November, these venues will likely offer Norris and his teammate more balanced opportunities to showcase their capabilities. Unless further mistakes or incidents occur, the championship battle between McLaren’s drivers should intensify, with the title ultimately awarded to the competitor who performs best in head-to-head challenges.
“After a jump start off the line, Oscar dropped to the back of the field, and in his attempt to recover quickly, he went into the wall at T5, ending an impressive streak of consecutive race finishes in his career.” – championship leader
“McLaren’s strength this season has come from combining strong race pace with excellent tyre management.” – engineers
“The medium-start strategy only works if the driver takes full advantage of the added grip at the beginning. Unfortunately for him, Norris did the opposite – losing two key positions under green flag running in the opening laps.” – mclaren
