Lando Norris: “I don’t think we could have hoped for much more”

Red Bull loses its throne in Baku. After another disappointing result, punctuated by the accident between Perez and Sainz in the penultimate lap, the Austrian team lost the lead of the constructors’ championship this weekend in favor of McLaren. The fault lies with a British team in top form recently, as demonstrated by the performance of the two drivers during the race, after a rather complicated start to the weekend.

Contrasting qualifications

For the first time in a long time, McLaren ended Friday’s day in difficulty, quite far from the top positions and the top three teams. Lando Norris expressed concerns about the competitiveness of his car, despite a hint of optimism. « The car is not too bad. I am sure we can still achieve a good time, but we are clearly not at the front as we were in the last few races […] So it’s tough at the moment, but we will work hard tonight. »

Unfortunately, the trend did not reverse on Saturday. Worse still, Norris was eliminated in the first part of qualifying, a first this season, due to a yellow flag in the last sector forcing him to slow down and not be able to improve his time. However, he managed to erase this under-performance the next day.

A rhythm found in the race

Fifteenth on the starting grid, following Hamilton’s penalty and Gasly’s disqualification, the Briton hoped to secure a top 8 finish, behind the three other leading teams and his teammate. From the start, he gained many positions and quickly found himself in the points zone. Starting on an alternative strategy with hard tires, Norris found himself with the leading pack after the leaders made their pit stops. He also benefited from the help of Alex Albon’s Williams, who held back Verstappen and Russell with his hard tires. After the Thai driver’s pit stop, the driver from the Woking team was able to manage his pace and then overtake his Dutch rival after his pit stop to put on medium tires. At the end of the race, Norris seemed very happy, aware of having maximized the result on this Sunday.

« I don’t think we could have hoped for much more today. We would have been happy with an 8th place, because we just thought the top four teams were going to be in front of me, being the 8th car. A good start, a good strategy », summarized the winner of the Miami Grand Prix, who was keen to highlight the impressive pace of his car once clear of traffic. « I mean, I would have liked to overtake Alex a little earlier. He made my life difficult. As soon as Alex pitted, I think my pace was the best on track, even with hard tires from the start of the race, and I managed to build a good gap and unlock all the potential the car had. The car was flying, which almost annoyed me even more compared to yesterday and that ridiculous yellow flag. »

Effective team management at McLaren

In addition to his individual performance, Norris played a key role in helping his teammate Oscar Piastri. He notably defended against Perez, allowing Piastri to stay ahead after his pit stop. At that moment, I was still a bit stuck behind Alex, so I couldn’t do much, said Norris to Sky Sports F1. I wasn’t slowing down, I was just preserving my tires a bit more because they were overheating slightly. It allowed Oscar to stay ahead and potentially win today, so I’m happy to know that I played a small role in this, and for us as a team, that’s what we have to do. It was my role today, to help Oscar, and to finish with a first and a fourth place was perfect.

With this result, McLaren is now leading the constructors’ championship with a 20-point lead over the Austrian team, a first since 2014, and the driver’s title also seems still possible for the Woking team, promising an exciting end to the season.