Lando Norris openly admitted that McLaren’s speed during Thursday’s practice sessions at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix was far from competitive, describing it as "pretty pants" and making it clear he does not expect to fight for pole position. In the second free‑practice session, Norris was a full 1.5 seconds slower than the session leader, George Russell, a gap that highlighted how the tight, 90‑degree corners of the Baku street circuit do not suit the current McLaren package. The team arrived in Baku with a substantial upgrade bundle that included brand‑new side‑pods, a revised engine cover, an updated diffuser and a re‑shaped floor edge.
Despite the magnitude of those changes, the performance gains have been modest at best. "We’re miles off the pace," Norris said. "We’re in the position we expect to be in relative to the field, but being 1.5 seconds off the leader is a huge margin.
Pretty pants." He added that 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 cautiously optimistic but uncertain. "I hope so, I have no idea. We’ll see what we can do tonight.
The car doesn’t feel terrible, so it’s a bit of a knife in the heart when you look at how far off we are," he explained. "All I care about is the pace, and right now we’re not quick. I drive whatever car I’m given, but I want it to be fast, and at the moment it isn’t." During the second practice session Norris aborted a fast lap that, based on sector times, would have brought 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 this narrow street circuit. McLaren’s chief technical officer Rob Marshall described the situation as "early days" for the eight new components that have been fitted to the car.
"We have a lot of new bits on the car – a lot of learning. You install a package and then you need to learn how to dial it in, and I don’t think we’re there yet," Marshall said.
He added that the aerodynamic maps appear promising and that the team simply needs to translate that into on‑track performance. Qualifying is scheduled for Friday at 13:00 local time, with the race itself set for Saturday at noon. Both sessions will be broadcast live on Sky Sports F1. Although Baku offers overtaking opportunities, the street layout means that a good qualifying position is still vital for a strong race result.
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 roughly an hour of track time. Despite the setbacks, Antonelli managed to finish second in the second practice, just half a second behind his teammate George Russell.
"We tried to make the most of what we had. Losing laps in FP1 and missing half of FP2 is never ideal, especially on a street circuit," Antonelli said. "Overall it was a solid recovery and I feel good in the car.
There are a few things to improve, but I’m looking forward to tomorrow." Red Bull’s Max Verstappen remained Mercedes’ closest rival in the practice sessions, though he still trailed the leading times by about eight‑tenths of a second. The Dutch driver benefitted from a series of upgrades that Red Bull introduced for the Baku weekend. 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. Confirmed as Verstappen’s teammate for the 2027 season, Hadjar also suffered an engine issue in the first practice session, limiting his running time.
Nevertheless, he expressed satisfaction with the car’s feel. "It feels good. I got a nice feeling even though I didn’t do many laps. I’m not overly worried about the pace," he said.
"The new package retains the same characteristics, but it 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, yet Hamilton warned that the Scuderia is still missing performance on the tyres and on the long straights. "I felt generally good in the car.
The track is fantastic to drive. In FP1 I felt strong, but in FP2 the others made another step forward," Hamilton explained, noting that the team has not changed the car’s setup but other rivals have found extra speed.
He described the tyre window as extremely narrow, saying that a single extra lap can suddenly unlock a significant grip increase, making tyre management a delicate balancing act. "Our straight‑line speed still lags behind Mercedes. We’ll try to close that gap tonight and see what we can do for qualifying tomorrow," he added. Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur echoed the sentiment, saying the sessions were difficult to interpret because every performance parameter—fuel load, engine mapping, tyre temperature—had a larger impact than on a conventional circuit.
"The drivers weren’t happy with the balance, so we have a lot of work to do tonight to find a solution for tomorrow," Vasseur said. The weekend’s schedule also includes a full slate of Formula 2 action, with a sprint race on Friday morning, a feature race later that day, and two feature races on Saturday surrounding the Grand Prix.
All events will be streamed live on Sky Sports Main Event, and fans can also watch via the Sky Sports app or the NOW streaming service, which offers flexible, contract‑free access. In summary, McLaren’s ambitious upgrade package has yet to translate into the lap times needed to challenge the front‑running teams in Baku.
Norris’s blunt assessment underscores the magnitude of the task ahead, while Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari each grapple with their own technical puzzles. The upcoming qualifying session will be the first true test of how quickly the teams can adapt their new components and strategies to the unique demands of the Azerbaijan street circuit.