“The price you pay”: Lando Norris on McLaren gamble in qualifying in Baku
- Maham Mir
- Sep 20
- 2 min read
By Maham Mir
After a disrupted qualifying session in Baku, Azerbaijan, Lando Norris emerged as the first car on track for the final few minutes of Q3. With his teammate Oscar Piastri out after a crash, all eyes in the McLaren garage and throughout the paddock turned to Norris to qualify on pole however it wasn’t meant to be. Norris ultimately qualified in P7, two places ahead of his teammate in P9.
Discussing the gamble of being the first car out on track, Norris stated: “Just a decision that didn’t work out in the end.”
“If there was a yellow flag further back or a red, we would have looked like the heroes and everyone else would have looked like losers. Now I kind of look like the loser and them heroes, but it’s the price you pay sometimes around here and the risks you’ve got to take."
Norris, who currently trails teammate Piastri by 31 points in the World Driver’s Championship, would have been hoping that this would be the weekend to take a step forward to keep his championship hopes alive.
On a team level, qualifying lower down the grid also has consequences. With the gap between McLaren and rivals Ferrari and Red Bull closer this weekend than before, the likelihood of McLaren sealing the World Constructors’ Championship seems less likely now. On the decision for Norris to be the first car on track, McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella stated: “Being first gives you the safety from a yellow flag point of view, you can control the warm up of the tyres on the out-lap.”
Despite the less than ideal qualifying for Norris, he will be looking ahead to Sunday’s Grand Prix as an opportunity to make his way through the field and potentially close the gap between himself and Piastri. A successful race could also see McLaren defend their WCC title from 2024 and create a new record in F1 history.
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