After being told by McLaren that he needed to prioritise his teammate’s world title bid, Oscar Piastri has qualified second for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, while Lando Norris will start 17th.
McLaren have had the best car for several races and Norris has steadily closed the gap in the drivers’ championship to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, whose dominance over F1 has disappeared.
However, in a week where McLaren confirmed they would prioritise Norris over Piastri, after the Australian outclassed the world title challenger at Monza, the Brit could only qualify 17th fastest and was knocked out of Q1.
He had to watch from the paddock as his teammate, who finished second in Monza, soared to second while Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc claimed pole.
The major blow for Norris was compounded when he watched Verstappen, who leads the championship by 62 points with eight races remaining, struggle to sixth-fastest.
With time expiring at the end of Q1 and Norris on his flying lap, the Alpine of Esteban Ocon ahead clipped the wall and slowed down.
A yellow flag was briefly displayed on a digital panel in front of Norris, but was then quickly removed.
Norris immediately slowed down after seeing the panel turn yellow, but it did not stay yellow for long.
Norris tried to get onto the accelerator but made a mess of the next corner. He then aborted his lap.
Norris was not on the pace on his first run and clocked in a banker time which looked under threat from cars who were going to do another fast lap at the end of the session, when the track was at its fastest.
That proved to be the case, as McLaren will be left wondering if they should have sent Norris out earlier, or if he even needed to slow down as he had not reached the panel before slowing down.
“It is what it is, long race ahead, we have some good tyres in the bank,” a dejected Norris told Sky Sports F1.
“I’m still hopeful we can get a good result, the car is still quick. A little bit frustrating but nothing I could do.”
When asked if he had the “green light” to race for the win tomorrow, Piastri cheekily said “definitely”.
“I think following around here will be really tough, so hopefully I can get some clean air but I think our race pace is good,” he said.
“But the Ferraris are not slow.”
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix will be held on the Baku street circuit on Sunday at 9pm, AEST.
