F1 | Norris: “McLaren far in Baku, we are at least 3-4 tenths away”

Everyone sees him as the only real obstacle between Max Verstappen and his fourth consecutive world title. Since this label was stuck on him, however, Lando Norris seems to have almost lost his smile. Between errors at the start and strategic misunderstandings within McLaren, the British driver is not managing to take full advantage of the difficult moment of the Dutchman and Red Bull, but with eight races to go he has still brought himself back to -62, so the opportunity is real.

And things didn’t start in the best way in Baku, because Lando didn’t even manage to complete a proper flying lap, so he ended Friday in 17th place, a good 1.6 seconds behind the best time set by Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari.

While in his case a misunderstanding with Pierre Gasly also ruined his attempt, with a middle finger pointed at the Frenchman from Alpine, in general it did not seem to be a brilliant day for the Woking team, because according to Norris the fifth time of Oscar Piastri, about half a second from the top, is the correct postcard of today’s potential of the MCL38.

“We’re far away. I have to push too hard to try to make a time. I think where Oscar is is more representative of our current potential, so we’re not too close yet,” a concerned Norris said at the end of the day.

“I think we still have some margin, honestly, compared to Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull who are all very close, then we are three or four tenths behind. So, we have a lot of work to do,” he added.

According to Lando, the all too common mistake lately is to think that McLaren should be the point of reference everywhere, especially in an F1 leveled upwards like today’s. Among other things, the conditions of the Azerbaijani street circuit are not helping him either, as it offers much less grip than in the past and for now allows times that are about three seconds higher than in 2023.

“There have been many circuits where we have not been fast. People like to believe that we are the best everywhere, but that is not the case. We have always known that Ferrari would be very fast here. With these track conditions I think Mercedes will be too.”

“The track is very slippery and we do well on circuits that offer more grip, of course. The track is very far away, not even remotely comparable to last year. At the moment it is tough, but we will work hard tonight. I am sure we can get a lap out of it, but we will struggle more to stay at the front in the race,” he concluded.

Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL38

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

Piastri seems more optimistic

On the other side of the McLaren garage, Oscar Piastri seems to see the glass at least half full compared to his teammate. He too acknowledged that the competition looks pretty fierce in Baku, but he also sees a McLaren ready to join the battle of its own.

“I think it was a decent day. It’s a bit difficult to understand at the moment, because the track is still evolving, but our pace seems to be in line with expectations. I would say Ferrari looked quite strong. Red Bull looks fast and Mercedes also. At the moment, the top four teams all seem to have a good pace,” Piastri said.

“Our long run looked quite competitive, which is good, but if you get a slipstream it can make a huge difference. That’s the starting point tomorrow,” he added.