Lando Norris was blunt after Thursday’s practice sessions at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, describing McLaren’s speed as "pretty pants" and making it clear he does not expect the team to fight for pole position in Baku. The British driver was a full 1.5 seconds off the fastest time set by George Russell in the second free‑practice session, a gap that highlighted how the tight, 90‑degree corners of the Baku street circuit do not suit the current McLaren package. McLaren arrived in Baku with a substantial upgrade bundle that includes brand‑new side‑pods, a re‑shaped engine cover, an updated diffuser and revised floor edges.
Despite the extensive work, the upgrades have not translated into an immediate performance boost. Norris summed up the situation succinctly: "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." The comment came as Norris sits 106 points behind championship leader Kimi Antonelli with nine races still to run.
When pressed about whether McLaren could close the gap to Mercedes, Norris admitted the outlook is uncertain. "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 also aborted a lap in the second practice session that, had it been completed, would probably have placed him within a second of Russell’s leading time. Russell, who topped both practice sessions, later said that while overtaking is possible on the Baku street layout, track position remains crucial because the circuit’s narrow sections punish even the smallest mistakes.
McLaren’s technical chief, Rob Marshall, offered a more measured perspective on the new components. "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. Marshall added that the aerodynamic maps appear promising, but the team still needs to extract the full performance from the package. "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 at noon, both broadcast live on Sky Sports F1.
The weekend also includes a series of support events, such as the F2 sprint and feature races, creating a packed program for fans. Mercedes, meanwhile, showed a stronger showing in practice despite a setback for Kimi Antonelli, who suffered a hydraulic leak in the first session and then had to replace his power unit before the second session, costing him roughly an hour of track time.
Nevertheless, Antonelli managed to finish second in the second practice, just half a second behind his teammate George Russell, and remains 81 points ahead of Russell in the championship. "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 after his session.
"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 was the nearest challenger to Mercedes in the practice times, yet he still trailed the leading Mercedes by over eight tenths of a second. Verstappen’s teammate, Isack Hadjar, returned to the car after missing the previous three race weekends due to a wrist injury sustained during the summer break.
Hadjar, who is set to remain alongside Verstappen for the 2027 season, also faced an engine issue in the first practice session, limiting his running. Despite the limited mileage, he expressed optimism: "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. 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, but Hamilton, a seven‑time world champion, voiced concerns about the team's tyre performance and straight‑line speed.
"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. He added that the current tyre compounds are difficult to get into the optimal temperature window, resulting in a narrow grip band that can change dramatically after just a few laps. "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. But we try our best and some teams do it better than others.
We have to look into that. Then our straight line speed is not as good as Mercedes.
Whether we can close that deficit tomorrow, we will try to work on tonight. Otherwise, a fun day." Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur echoed the sentiment, noting that the sessions were hard to interpret due to the unique demands of a street circuit. "Each parameter of performance – fuel, engine – made a bigger difference compared to a normal track. The drivers 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’s schedule is packed: Friday includes an F2 sprint, the third practice session for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, and the qualifying session at 13:00. Saturday sees the F2 feature race, the Grand Prix build‑up, the race itself at noon, 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 more flexible viewing experience. In summary, McLaren’s ambitious upgrade package has yet to deliver the expected performance boost, leaving Norris and the team with a substantial gap to the front‑running Mercedes. While the engineers remain optimistic that further work will unlock the car’s potential, the immediate reality is that McLaren will likely be fighting for positions rather than pole. Meanwhile, Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari are all grappling with their own challenges – from tyre management to straight‑line speed – making the upcoming qualifying session in Baku a crucial test for all teams as they aim to maximize their results on a demanding street circuit.