Lando Norris Says McLaren Is Far From Pole Position Pace in Baku Practice

The first day of practice at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix showed a clear gap between McLaren and the front-running teams. Lando Norris was honest about his team’s performance, calling their pace “pretty pants” and saying they were “miles off” the leaders.

Mercedes driver George Russell topped both practice sessions on Thursday, setting a fastest lap of 1:43.347 in the second session. He finished more than half a second ahead of his Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen third. Norris ended the second session in sixth place, about 1.5 seconds slower than Russell. His teammate Oscar Piastri was eighth, a similar distance behind the leaders.

McLaren arrived in Baku with a big upgrade package, including changes to the sidepods, engine cover, diffuser, floor, and rear suspension. They even tested a new higher-downforce rear wing. But the new parts have not yet brought the performance boost they hoped for. In the first practice session, both McLaren cars suffered floorboard damage and had to run with temporary fixes during the second session. The team plans a proper repair before Friday’s running.

Norris said the car felt okay to drive but just wasn’t fast enough, especially on a track like Baku that mixes slow corners with a very long straight. He backed out of a potentially quicker lap in the second session, switching instead to a longer race-style run. That means his official time might not show his absolute best pace.

Despite the disappointment, McLaren’s technical chief Rob Marshall said the upgrades are behaving as expected and they are still learning how to get the most out of the package. Russell believes the gaps between the top teams will tighten in qualifying on Friday, which is when the real fight for pole position begins. The race itself is set for Saturday due to local Remembrance Day on Sunday.

For now, McLaren has a clear challenge ahead if they want to compete at the front in Baku.