Norris reports Baku pace deficit despite major McLaren upgrade

Lando Norris said McLaren remained well short of the leading pace after Thursday's practice at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, despite introducing a significant aerodynamic upgrade. BBC Sport reported that the world champion finished sixth in the second session, 1.484 seconds behind Mercedes driver George Russell, leaving the team with work to do after its opening day in Baku.

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The development package includes changes around the sidepod air inlets, engine cover, floor and diffuser. McLaren chief technical officer Rob Marshall said the early data matched the team's simulations, but that the car's full potential had not yet been extracted. Norris, who has won two of the past four races, expressed frustration at the size of the deficit even though he considered his position broadly in line with expectations.

Other teams offered a less pessimistic assessment of McLaren's performance. Red Bull technical director Pierre Wache considered Mercedes faster but said McLaren appeared slightly quicker than, or comparable to, Red Bull. Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur pointed to quick McLaren laps that were not completed, while Mercedes deputy team principal Bradley Lord cautioned that the gaps were not representative. Those assessments left uncertainty over how accurately the practice classification reflected the competitive order.

Russell topped both sessions and led team-mate Kimi Antonelli by 0.552 seconds in the second. Antonelli's day was disrupted by a hydraulic failure in the first session and further lost time while repairs, including an engine change, continued into the second. He completed roughly half as much running as Russell but described the recovery positively. Antonelli leads his team-mate by 81 points in the championship.

Max Verstappen finished third in the second session, 0.827 seconds behind Russell. Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton followed, both more than a second off the fastest time. Hamilton reported a lack of speed, and Vasseur said the drivers were unhappy with the car's balance. Behind Norris, Pierre Gasly was seventh for Alpine, ahead of McLaren's Oscar Piastri and Red Bull's Isack Hadjar.

The opening day also included a crash for Racing Bulls driver Arvid Lindblad, who clipped the wall approaching the castle section. The Azerbaijan event is following a Thursday-to-Saturday schedule this year because the country's national remembrance day falls on Sunday.