Lando Norris admitted on Thursday that McLaren’s speed during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix practice sessions was "pretty pants" and that he does not expect the team to fight for pole position in Baku. The British driver was roughly 1.5 seconds slower than the session leader, George Russell, in the second practice session, a gap that highlighted how the low‑speed, 90‑degree corners of the street circuit do not suit the current McLaren chassis. Despite arriving in Baku with a substantial upgrade package – new side‑pods, a revised engine cover, a fresh diffuser and a modified floor edge – the team has not seen an immediate uplift in performance. "We are miles off," Norris said.
"We are in the position we should be in relative to the field, but we are still 1.5 seconds off the pace. Pretty pants." He is currently 106 points behind championship leader Kimi Antonelli with nine races remaining.
When asked whether McLaren could narrow the gap to Mercedes, Norris was cautious. "I hope so, I have no idea. We’ll see what we can do tonight.
The car doesn’t feel terrible, so it hurts a bit when you see how far off you are," he explained. "I just care about the pace.
Right now we’re not very quick. I drive whatever car I get, but I want it to be fast and it isn’t at the moment." Norris even aborted a lap in the second practice session that, according to his own assessment, would have placed him within a second of Russell’s best time. Russell, who topped both practice sessions, noted that while overtaking is possible in Baku, track position remains crucial on the narrow street circuit. McLaren’s technical chief, Rob Marshall, described the situation as "early days" for the eight new components.
"We have a lot of new bits on the car – a lot of learning. You fit the package on and you have to learn how to dial it in, and I don’t think we’re there yet," he said.
"The car is doing what we want it to do. The aerodynamic maps look happy.
It’s just a matter of extracting the performance." Qualifying is scheduled for Friday at 13:00, with the Grand Prix itself on Saturday at noon, both broadcast live on Sky Sports F1. Although Baku allows for overtaking, the street nature of the circuit means that starting position is still a major factor. Mercedes’ George Russell praised his own car’s competitiveness over a single lap and believed the race pace was closely matched with McLaren and Red Bull. "I’m sure those gaps will tighten even further when we get to qualifying tomorrow," he added.
Championship leader Kimi Antonelli suffered a hydraulic leak in the first practice session and was forced to change his power unit before the second session, losing roughly an hour of track time. Despite the setback, Antonelli still managed to finish second in the second practice, just half a second behind his teammate. "We tried to do the maximum with what we had. Losing a lot of laps in FP1 and missing half of FP2 is never ideal, especially on a street circuit," Antonelli said.
"Overall it was a good recovery. I feel quite good in the car, a few things to work on, but I’m looking forward to tomorrow." Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was the closest challenger to Mercedes in the practice runs, yet remained more than eight‑tenths of a second slower than Russell, even after Red Bull introduced its own upgrades for Baku. Isack Hadjar returned to the Red Bull garage for the first time since July after missing three races due to a wrist injury.
Although an engine issue limited his running in the first practice, Hadjar expressed optimism. "It feels good. I had a good feeling. Not many laps, unfortunately, but this will come.
I’m not really worried about the pace," he said. "The new package feels nicer than when I left it in Budapest." Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton both featured in the top five of each practice session. Hamilton, a seven‑time world champion, complained that Ferrari’s car was lacking tyre performance and straight‑line speed. "I felt generally good in the car.
The track is awesome to drive. In FP1 I felt very strong, but in FP2 the others took another step," Hamilton explained. He added that the tyre window in Baku is notoriously narrow. "You do an out lap and a prep lap and they’re still not in the window and still don’t give you grip.
When you finally do an extra lap, they suddenly give you tonnes more grip – it’s a fine line and really difficult to get right. Some teams manage it better than others." Hamilton also noted that Ferrari’s straight‑line speed trails that of Mercedes. "Whether we can close that deficit tomorrow, we’ll try to work on tonight. Otherwise, it will be a fun day," he said.
Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur echoed the difficulty of extracting performance on the Baku circuit. "The sessions were hard to read. Every parameter – fuel, engine – made a bigger difference compared to a normal track," he said. "The drivers weren’t very pleased with the balance, so we have a lot to do tonight to find a good solution for tomorrow." The weekend schedule includes an F2 sprint on Friday morning, followed by the third practice session for the Azerbaijan GP at 09:15, the F2 feature race at 11:10, and qualifying at 13:00.
Saturday’s program features the F2 feature race, the Grand Prix start at 12:00, and post‑race analysis later in the afternoon. All sessions will be streamed live on Sky Sports Main Event and can be accessed via the Sky Sports app or NOW for flexible viewing. In summary, McLaren’s ambitious upgrade package has not yet translated into the speed needed to challenge Mercedes or Red Bull in Baku. Norris remains realistic about the team’s chances, while technical staff continue to fine‑tune the new components.
Meanwhile, the rest of the field is sharpening its setups ahead of a crucial qualifying session that could reshape the grid for a race where track position is paramount.