Watch: Lando Norris forced to back off due to yellow flags which led to his Q1 elimination in the F1 Azerbaijan GP qualifying

McLaren driver Lando Norris was forced to back off due to yellow flags in the final sector of the Baku Street Circuit in the Q1 session of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday. The British driver failed to get himself out of the Q1 session as he qualified P17 for the main race on Sunday.

Heading into qualifying, the lead McLaren driver in the standings was playing catchup to his teammate Oscar Piastri throughout the weekend. He found himself in the drop after a massive track evolution in the final minutes of the Q1 session.

On his final lap of the session, Lando Norris was unfortunate as he caught out the stricken Alpine of Esteban Ocon heading into Turn 16, and had to slow down due to yellow flags on the sector.

Norris came into the pits on the team's advice after he was denied the chance to push for another lap. His race engineer Will Joseph was apologetic after the session ended and said:

"Mate, I'm sorry," Will Joseph said.

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Lando Norris analyzes his P17 finish at the Azerbaijan GP qualifying

McLaren driver Lando Norris said that his final aborted lap was 'good enough' to get out of the danger zone and into Q2 at the qualifying session on Saturday.

Speaking via BBC, the 24-year-old reflected on his qualifying and underlined the difficulty in making overtakes on the narrow sectors of the track:

“The lap was easily good enough but there was a yellow flag so I had to back off. Following is pretty much impossible around here and overtaking is a lot worse than everyone thinks," Norris said.

While mentioning that they would try to strategize for the upcoming race in the best way possible, Norris wasn't too optimistic following his P17 finish as he said:

“I am not expecting much from 17th, but we will put in a good plan tonight and do our best of course. I have been wrong, and I hope there are plenty of chances, but I’m not expecting so,” he said.

While Norris will start from almost the back of the grid, his title rival Max Verstappen will start the race from P6 after he was unable to set a good lap in the final part of the qualifying session.

The three-time world champion was out-qualified for the first time in the 2024 season by his teammate, Sergio Perez, who finished the session in P4, while Charles LeClerc finished at P1.

Oscar Piastri had a more positive outing compared to his teammate, as he qualified in P2 and was able to split the Ferraris. Should Lando Norris fail to make progress in the main race, there could be a huge points shift towards Verstappen in the title race given the current situation in the drivers' standings.