Lando Norris admitted on Thursday that McLaren’s performance during the practice sessions for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix was far from competitive, describing the car’s speed as "pretty pants" and confirming that a pole‑position challenge looks unlikely at this stage. In the second practice session, Norris was a full 1.5 seconds slower than the session leader, George Russell, and the tight, 90‑degree corners of the Baku street circuit appeared to expose the weaknesses of the McLaren chassis. The team arrived in Baku with a substantial upgrade package that included completely new side‑pods, a redesigned engine cover, an updated diffuser and revised floor edges.
Despite the magnitude of these changes, 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." With nine races remaining, the British driver sits 106 points behind championship leader Kimi Antonelli, making the gap feel even larger. When asked whether McLaren could narrow the deficit to Mercedes, Norris replied, "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." His comments underline the frustration of having a car that feels manageable in the hands but still lacks the outright speed needed to compete with the front‑running teams.
During the same session, Norris aborted a fast lap that, according to telemetry, would have placed him within a second of Russell’s best time. Russell, who topped both practice sessions, noted that while overtaking is possible on the Baku street layout, securing a good grid position remains crucial because the circuit’s narrow sections can quickly turn a race into a traffic nightmare. McLaren’s technical chief, Rob Marshall, offered a more measured perspective on the new parts.
He described the situation as "early days" for the eight new components and emphasized that the team is still learning how to extract the maximum from the package. "You put your package on and you need to learn how to dial it in and I don't think we are there yet," Marshall said. He added that the aerodynamic maps appear promising, but the team still needs to fine‑tune the overall performance. Qualifying is scheduled for Friday at 13:00 local time, with the Grand Prix itself set for Saturday at noon, both events broadcast live on Sky Sports F1.
The weekend’s timetable also includes a series of support races, including F2 sprint and feature events, and a post‑race analysis segment. Mercedes, meanwhile, enjoyed a smoother weekend.
George Russell praised the competitiveness of his car over a single lap and suggested that the gap to Red Bull will shrink as qualifying approaches. "It's been a positive first day here in Baku. The car felt competitive over a single lap, and our race pace looks closely matched with McLaren and Red Bull," he said. "I'm sure those gaps will tighten even further when we get to qualifying tomorrow." Championship leader Kimi Antonelli faced a setback when a hydraulic leak forced him to retire early in the first practice session, and a subsequent engine change cost him an hour of track time before the second session.
Despite the interruption, Antonelli still managed to finish second in the second practice, just half a second behind his teammate Russell. He explained, "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.
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 remained the closest challenger to Mercedes in the practice runs, but even he was over eight tenths of a second slower than Russell at the end of the day, despite Red Bull bringing its own set of upgrades to Baku. Meanwhile, Isack Hadjar returned to the Red Bull garage after missing the previous three race weekends due to a wrist injury sustained during the summer break. Although an engine issue limited his running in the first practice, Hadjar expressed optimism, stating, "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 each practice session, yet Hamilton highlighted that the team still struggles with 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 said. He added that the tyres are extremely difficult to bring into their optimal temperature window, describing a fine line between lacking grip and suddenly finding a surge of traction after an extra lap.
"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," he concluded. 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 also includes a full slate of supporting events: F2 sprint and feature races on Friday and Saturday, as well as a series of post‑race analysis shows.
All action will be streamed live on Sky Sports Main Event, with additional flexibility offered through the NOW platform, allowing viewers to watch without a long‑term contract. In summary, while McLaren’s new aerodynamic package shows promise on paper, the real‑world data from Baku indicates that significant work remains before the team can challenge the front‑running Mercedes and Red Bull. Norris’s candid remarks underscore the frustration felt throughout the garage, but both technical staff and drivers remain hopeful that further development and fine‑tuning will deliver the speed needed to fight for podium positions as the season progresses.