Lando Norris 'excited' to try new sprint format at 2023 Azerbaijan GP

Lando Norris is excited to trial the new sprint format at the 2023 Azerbaijan GP this weekend.

The McLaren driver has had a rocky start to the season. The race in Jeddah was not ideal, as he crashed out of qualifying and compromised his entire weekend. So was the case with the one in Bahrain, where a reliability issue in the race proved to be a major deterrent.

Amidst all that, Norris produced a very impressive drive in Australia, scoring a chunk of points. Looking forward to the next race in Baku, the McLaren driver sounded excited to return to a street circuit and trial the new set of upgrades brought by the team.

As reported by racingnews365.com, Norris said:

"I'm looking forward to Baku and to go racing again. It's been a productive three weeks off with sim work and analysis with my engineers but also taking time to rest and reset ahead of a busy few races. I'm also excited that we’re at another street circuit and trying out the new Sprint format. It will be interesting to see how it works, and hopefully it will make good viewing for the fans."

He added:

"The track is narrow, so it’s as important as ever to be on it, as there are lots of opportunities for mistakes. This is even more important as we optimise and learn everything we can about the new parts we’re bringing to the track this weekend. Let’s get back to it."

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"It's a tricky circuit" - Lando Norris' rookie teammate

Oscar Piastri was a bit more circumspect about his expectations from the weekend. The Australian admitted that the track can be quite tricky when it comes to setting things up for the entire lap. The rookie said:

"It's a tricky circuit to get right from a car set-up perspective, given the long straight at the end of the lap, combined with the tighter sections of the track. We've been doing a lot of work in the simulator to ensure we hit the ground running on Friday, especially given the Sprint format, which I'm looking forward to taking on for the first time in Formula 1."

He added:

"I'll be hoping to build on the momentum from Australia where I achieved my first-ever F1 points. We still have a lot of work to do and a long way to go, so I'll keep my head down and keep working hard."

Both Norris and Piastri scored their first points of the season in Australia and will look to continue that momentum throughout the season, starting in Baku.