Lando Norris was blunt on Thursday after the first two practice sessions for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, describing McLaren's performance as "pretty pants" and admitting the team is nowhere near a pole‑position challenge. In the second practice session the British driver was a full 1.5 seconds slower than the session leader, George Russell, and the slow‑speed, 90‑degree corners that dominate the Baku street circuit appeared to expose the weaknesses of the current McLaren package. The team arrived in Baku with a substantial upgrade bundle – new side‑pods, a refreshed engine cover, an updated diffuser and a revised floor edge – all intended to close the gap to the front‑running Mercedes and Red Bull cars. However, Norris made it clear that the new components have not translated into immediate on‑track speed.
"We are miles off. We are up there relative and in the position we expect to be in but we are 1.5 seconds off the pace.
Pretty pants," he said, noting that he sits 106 points behind championship leader Kimi Antonelli with nine rounds remaining. When pressed about the possibility of narrowing the gap to Mercedes, Norris was cautiously optimistic but honest about the uncertainty. "I hope so.
I have no idea. We will see what work we can do tonight. The car doesn't feel that bad, so it's a little knife in the heart when you see how far off you are.
I just care about the pace and we are not very fast. I drive whatever car I get given. I just want it to be quick and it's not very quick at the moment," he explained. Norris even aborted a lap in the second practice session that, had it been completed, would likely have brought him within a second of Russell’s best time.
Russell, who topped both practice sessions, highlighted that while overtaking is possible in Baku, track position remains crucial on this tight street circuit. McLaren’s technical chief Rob Marshall echoed the sentiment that the team is still in the learning phase with the eight new parts. "We had a lot of new bits on the car – a lot of learning. You put your package on and you need to learn how to dial it in and I don't think we are there yet," he said.
"I think the car is doing what we want it to do. The aero maps seem pretty happy. It's just a matter of dialling the performance in." Qualifying is scheduled for Friday at 13:00, with the race itself set for Saturday noon, both broadcast live on Sky Sports F1.
Despite the possibility of overtaking, the narrow streets mean that a good qualifying position is still a major factor for a successful race. Mercedes, meanwhile, faced its own challenges. Kimi Antonelli suffered a hydraulic leak in the first practice session and was forced to change his power unit before the second session, losing an hour of track time.
Nevertheless, the Italian driver still managed to finish second in the second practice, just half a second behind his teammate George Russell. "We tried to do the maximum with what we had.
We lost quite a few laps in FP1 and missing half of FP2 is never ideal, especially on a street circuit," Antonelli said. "Overall, I feel like it was a good recovery. I feel quite good in the car. A few things to work on but looking forward to tomorrow." Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, the closest challenger to Mercedes in the practice sessions, remained over eight tenths slower than the leading times despite the team’s own upgrade package for Baku.
Verstappen’s teammate, Isack Hadjar, returned to the car for the first time since July after a wrist injury forced him to miss three races. Hadjar, who is confirmed as Verstappen’s teammate for the 2027 season, also experienced an engine issue in the first practice but remained "pretty happy" with his limited running. "It feels good. I had a good feeling.
Not many laps unfortunately but this will come. I'm not really worried too much about the pace," he said. "The feeling with this new package, we know the characteristics are the same with the car, but it feels nice – better than when I left it in Budapest." Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton both featured in the top five of the two practice sessions, yet Hamilton expressed frustration with the team's performance on the tyres and on the straight‑line sections. "I felt generally good in the car.
The track is awesome to drive. FP1 I felt very strong and I thought we were doing well but in FP2 the others took another step," Hamilton explained, adding that the tyres were particularly difficult to get into their optimal operating window. "You do an out lap and a prep lap and they are still not in the window and still don't provide you with the grip. When you do an extra lap, all of a sudden they switch up and you have tonnes more grip, so that's a really fine line and really difficult to get working." Ferrari team principal Frédéric Vasseur acknowledged the difficulty of reading the sessions, noting that fuel loads and engine settings had a larger impact than on a typical circuit.
"They were not very pleased with the balance so we have a lot to do tonight to find a good solution for tomorrow," he said. The weekend schedule is packed: Friday will see an F2 sprint, the third practice session for the Azerbaijan GP, and the F2 feature race, followed by qualifying in the early afternoon.
Saturday includes the F2 feature race, the Grand Prix build‑up, the race itself at midday, and post‑race analysis. All events will be streamed live on Sky Sports Main Event and can also be accessed via the Sky Sports app for a flexible viewing experience.
In summary, McLaren’s ambitious upgrade package has yet to deliver the performance gains the team hoped for, leaving Norris and the engineers to continue fine‑tuning the car throughout the weekend. Mercedes and Ferrari are also grappling with their own issues, while Red Bull remains the benchmark despite a modest gap. The Baku street circuit promises a thrilling showdown, and the final qualifying results on Friday will set the stage for what could be a decisive race in the 2026 Formula 1 championship.