McLaren's Lando Norris, who will start 17th for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, is determined to salvage his championship bid despite a disappointing qualifying session. The Briton was knocked out of Q1 for the first time since last year's Las Vegas Grand Prix, with his best lap compromised by a yellow flag incident, but he remains focused on mitigating damage to his title challenge.
Norris, who trails series leader Max Verstappen by 62 points with eight races remaining, including three sprints, acknowledged the difficulties of starting from such a low position. Verstappen, who qualified sixth, has been struggling for form but showed signs of improvement in Baku after a challenging run of races.
Norris expressed cautious optimism, noting that his disrupted lap was competitive before he had to back off due to the yellow flag. His race engineer, Will Joseph, apologized for not alerting him sooner about the incident that led to the flag, further complicating Norris’s qualifying efforts.
With McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri securing a front-row start alongside pole-sitter Charles Leclerc, Norris's chances of utilizing team orders to aid his race have been diminished. Piastri, who will start alongside Leclerc, expressed confidence in his performance but acknowledged the difficulty of overtaking on the challenging Baku circuit.
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