Lando Norris admitted that a combination of his own misjudgment and a McLaren team decision led to a disappointing seventh-place finish in qualifying for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
The chaotic Baku session, interrupted six times by red flags and stretched to nearly two hours, saw both Norris and teammate Oscar Piastri survive to Q3.
However, crashes for Charles Leclerc and then Piastri left Norris as the first driver on track when the final run resumed – a position he later regarded as a mistake, in hindsight.
“A mistake from my side, from our side”
Norris made a key error at Turn 15 on his only opportunity to set a lap in Q3, brushing the wall and losing crucial time.
“I didn’t have a delta so I don’t know how much I lost. Two tenths maybe, so a couple of positions, but not 1.1 seconds to Max,” he said, downplaying the impact of the wall contact.
However, reflecting on his track position at the time, The McLaren driver pinpointed the decision to go out first as a collective error.
“I think it was mistake from my side, from our side, to go out the pit lane first,” Norris explained.
“It couldn’t have been – 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.”
Read also: Piastri reckons Baku crash in Q3 ‘a case of trying too hard’Instead, the early run left Norris exposed.
“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.
“But it was still spitting a little bit, so I think anyone who was further back, just more grip. Just a decision that didn’t work out in the end. Something we’ll review and try to do better next time.”
Looking Ahead
The miscalculation was particularly painful given Piastri’s crash, which handed Norris a chance to outshine his teammate and close the championship gap.
Instead, Max Verstappen seized pole, with Williams Carlos Sainz banking an early lap for second and Racing Bulls Liam Lawson capitalizing late for third.
For Norris, the error and team decision cost him a golden opportunity to challenge Piastri, his McLaren teammate and championship rival, and to possibly shake up the grid at the front.
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