Lando Norris has dismissed criticisms that he failed to capitalize on a crucial chance to narrow the points deficit against Formula 1 championship leader Oscar Piastri during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku. Although Norris finished seventh and remains 25 points behind his McLaren teammate and rival Piastri—whose weekend was marred by a crash on the opening lap—he stressed that the situation could have been far worse as the season enters its final seven events.
Race Challenges and Qualifying Struggles
At the Baku race, Piastri encountered numerous setbacks, including a ninth-place qualifying after crashing in Q3. Norris qualified only two positions ahead, after completing an early lap that left him vulnerable to competitors improving their times later due to track evolution. Despite these setbacks, Norris managed to gain six points relative to Piastri, who endured a mistake-filled weekend.
Norris Acknowledges Pitstop Issues and Team Decisions
Lando Norris admitted that a slow 4.1-second pit stop affected his ability to finish higher in the race, adding that the team’s decision to send him out on track first backfired. He recognized that although better performance was needed, he was close to maximizing his results under difficult conditions.
I’m doing the best I can in every race,
said Norris.
If you look at that, every race I finished second or worse this year was an opportunity lost. I don’t really care how people look at it.
Of course, I needed to do better yesterday but we went out first. This was just our decision and we paid the price for that. I could have done that. I also could have ended up in the wall and gone long and something worse happened. I felt like I was close to maximising today. It didn’t maybe look like it from the outside but we struggled with the pace. We weren’t too optimistic about our pace today. Clearly, we struggled a little bit. I don’t think the pace is bad, it’s just too difficult to overtake.
I’m doing the best I can. I know I’ve still got a lot of points to make up against a pretty good driver, an incredible driver. I just need to keep my head down.
Lando Norris, McLaren
Strong Practice Performances Could Not Offset Chaotic Qualifying
Norris showed encouraging speed during practice sessions, topping FP1 and FP3, leading him to believe the qualifying result would have been different under more stable conditions. The Baku qualifying was disrupted by six red flags and rain threats, which hindered Norris’s ability to secure a better starting position.
Despite these challenges, Norris acknowledged that McLaren lacked the race pace of Max Verstappen, who dominated the event from pole position. Verstappen finished ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell and Williams’ Carlos Sainz.
I don’t think they were big struggles,
Norris commented.
I think on ultimate pace we were still not bad this weekend. I was still quick in FP1, FP2, FP3 and so forth. I think if it was a normal quali, yes. I think the tricky conditions, the water yesterday, the little bit of rain going up first on track, all added up to making it a worse weekend. Our position today, I think if I started second, I think I would have finished second. I don’t think we had the pace of Red Bull, honestly. That was very, very clear. I think just the lower-downforce tracks, we still seem to struggle. We still don’t have the confidence we need. It can be quick, we’re just not able to repeat it as often as we need to and as often as the Red Bull, for example.
Lando Norris, McLaren
Recognizing Areas in Need of Improvement Despite Season Progress
Norris admitted that, although this season has been impressive, there are clear weaknesses the team must address. McLaren has made improvements but still lags behind dominant teams like Red Bull in critical areas of performance.
We’ve had an amazing season, don’t get me wrong, but we clearly have things that are not good enough and we have to keep working on them.
Lando Norris, McLaren
Verstappen’s Dominance Remains a Barrier to McLaren’s Success
Max Verstappen’s fourth victory of the year and his second consecutive win underline the Red Bull team’s strength. Norris acknowledged the difficulty in overcoming such a dominant force and cautioned against unrealistic expectations for McLaren to claim wins every race.
It’s not often that they’re slow,
said Norris about Red Bull.
So I think people need to stop being so surprised that they’re quick.
Norris noted Verstappen’s consistent competitiveness this season, pointing out that the Red Bull team has maintained their pace from the beginning and further improved with recent upgrades introduced at Monza.
Max was winning races already at the beginning of the year, he could have won round one, I think he was pretty close to winning round two. The whole season they’ve been quick, the Red Bull has been good, they brought some upgrades to Monza which seems to have helped them improve even more. So, not a surprise, I think we know that they’re an incredibly strong team and have one of the best drivers ever in Formula 1, so we expect nothing less. They’re going to make our life difficult I think for the rest of the season but we also know from our side, we struggled a bit here, Monza clearly we’re not quick enough. We’ve made improvements but things where the Red Bull have been so good and dominant in the past, they still have and we don’t.
Lando Norris, McLaren
Identifying Performance Gaps Compared to Red Bull
Norris highlighted certain areas where Red Bull operates at a superior level, underscoring the need for McLaren to analyze and learn from these differences to close the gap.
Today when I was following the Red Bull, there was clearly some areas where they were just another level to us and we need to understand why.
Lando Norris, McLaren
Implications for Norris and McLaren Moving Forward
As the Formula 1 season progresses through its final races, Lando Norris remains focused on minimizing mistakes and accumulating points to challenge Oscar Piastri’s championship lead. While the McLaren team shows promise, especially in practice sessions, the inconsistency in qualifying and overall race pace compared to dominant competitors like Red Bull poses ongoing challenges. Norris’s candid reflection on his performance and the team’s areas needing improvement signals a determined effort to close the gap in the title race as the season intensifies.
