Alarm bells ring for Norris as he tells McLaren 'we've got a lot to find'
F1 News
Lando Norris was downbeat after the first two practice sessions during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend. The British driver has told McLaren the team has "a lot of work to do" overnight if they want to compete for pole position for Sunday's race in Baku.
Norris is in the picture for the 2024 Formula 1 World Championship title but needs to maximise almost all of the remaining eight Grand Prix weekends to stand a chance. He currently has a 62-point gap to Max Verstappen and time is running out. It seemed that McLaren would make a change to the 'papaya rules' but Oscar Piastri confirmed he won't move over and give up a Grand Prix victory should that be required for Norris.
How does Norris reflect on practice in Baku?
In the first free practice session, Norris finished fourth. He was almost half a second away from Verstappen's quickest time. But in FP2, Norris' best time remains somewhat of a mystery when looking at the timesheet. He had to back out of his lap to avoid a collision with Pierre Gasly. The McLaren driver has no hard feelings though. "No, probably not his fault. It's just here you don't deploy the power until very late. So he's just clearly misjudged it. It didn't matter. I'd done my lap already. It's just a straight until then," Norris told F1TV.
But Norris does have some concerns over his car's performance. "We're quite a long way off. I'm having to push way too much to try and get a lap time out of it. I think where Oscar was is kind of more where we are. So I think if we nail it, we're just about there, but I'm sure they're not even close to nailing it yet. I think we have quite a lot to find, honestly," Norris said bluntly.
Norris and McLaren are chasing Red Bull in the F1 Constructors' Championship, but he sees a broader problem with more teams capable of winning in Baku. "Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull, they're all very similar. And then there's a good three, four tenth gap back to us so a lot of work to do. Ferrari are very quick here. Mercedes will be quick with these track conditions. It's very slidey out there. We perform well on the higher grip circuits. Finding it difficult but we'll work hard tonight," Norris added.
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