Lando Norris downplays McLaren’s superiority ahead of Azerbaijan GP: “We’re a long way off”

Lando Norris has downplayed McLaren's chances of winning the Azerbaijan GP, suggesting that the MCL38 is significantly slower than its competitors based on the team's showing during Friday's practice sessions.

In the first practice session, Norris and his teammate Oscar Piastri set the fourth and sixth fastest times, respectively, almost half a second behind pacesetter Max Verstappen. In the second session, Piastri set the fifth-fastest time, half a second behind Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc.

Norris was unable to complete a representative lap on soft tires during the second practice session. Having focused primarily on long runs, the 24-year-old Brit expressed disappointment with the MCL38's pace relative to its competitors, acknowledging that he had pushed excessively to achieve a competitive lap time.

Norris reckons McLaren is a long way off its rivals, and the team has a lot more pace to find before the qualifying session. In an interview with F1TV, he said,

"We're quite a long way off. I'm having to push way too much to try and get a lap time out of it, clearly. I think where Oscar was, is kind of more where we are. If we nail it, we're just about there, but I'm sure the [competitors] are not even close to nailing it yet."

"We have quite a lot to find, honestly, compared to Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull. They're all very similar, and then there's a good three, four tenths gap back to us. So, a lot of work for us to do," he added.

Despite Norris's skepticism, the lap times in the Friday practice sessions aren't a true indicator of the pecking order. Multiple variables controlled by the teams, such as engine modes, fuel loads, etc. cloud the true pace, with all teams dropping the sandbags in qualifying.

The Qualifying session is scheduled for this Saturday, September 14, at 4:00 PM track time. The 51-lap Azerbaijan GP is scheduled for this Sunday, September 15, at 3:00 PM track time.

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Lando Norris elaborates on FP2 incident with Pierre Gasly

During the FP2 session, Lando Norris was on a flying lap on soft tires when he encountered Pierre Gasly in the final sector, heading towards the main straight. While Gasly did move aside, the delay forced Norris to abort his push lap, leading to a display of frustration from the McLaren driver, who made a rude gesture towards Gasly.

Norris explained that Gasly misjudged his arrival but didn't put the entire blame on the Frenchman. Having completed two sectors, the McLaren driver was satisfied with his lap.

"No, probably not his fault. It's just here you don't deploy the power until very late. So he's just clearly misjudged it. It didn't matter. I'd done my lap already. It's just a straight until then," he told F1TV.

The Azerbaijan GP is a pivotal point in the title race, as Norris tries to hunt down points leader Max Verstappen, who boasts a 62-point advantage. Red Bull seems to be in contention this weekend following a disappointing outing in Monza.