Norris 'still hopeful' of good result in Baku

McLaren’s Lando Norris says he is “still hopeful” of a bully consequence successful Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix contempt starting nan title successful 16th place.

The Briton will commencement 10 places down title rival Max Verstappen’s Red Bull aft coming crossed yellowish flags astatine nan incorrect infinitesimal successful qualifying, which meant he did not advancement beyond nan first session.

Norris, who qualified 17th but gained a spot erstwhile Alpine’s Pierre Gasly was disqualified for a method infringement, is trying to adjacent a 62-point spread to Verstappen complete nan remaining 8 races of nan season.

"It is what it is but location is simply a agelong title ahead,” Norris said. “We person sewage immoderate bully tyres successful nan bank, truthful yeah, effort and beryllium hopeful and spot what we tin do.”

But Norris acknowledged that making advancement would dangle connected strategy choices successful nan race, because overtaking is difficult connected nan Baku thoroughfare way contempt nan two-kilometre pit straight.

He said nan truth that nan slower cars successful beforehand of him had chosen to tally debased downforce to boost their velocity connected nan consecutive would make it moreover much difficult.

Norris said he was “disappointed and frustrated” pinch nan consequence of qualifying but insisted that location was “nothing I could change”.

“Everything is going to person to beryllium done pinch strategy because you can’t overtake,” Norris said. “There are a plentifulness of cars astatine nan backmost who person taken nan helping disconnected and dream for nan best.

“That makes it intolerable for a batch of cars to overtake them.

“The car is speedy and we dream that will travel into our hands and astatine immoderate constituent I tin get cleanable air.

“But connected a thoroughfare circuit everything gets backed up and you benignant of get forced into a position and you can’t do a batch astatine times.

“We will dream for nan champion but I don’t expect thing overmuch astatine each unless strategy comes into play.”

The different McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who has been asked earlier nan play to thief Norris’ title bid, qualified second, down nan rod position Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.

Ferrari's Carlos Sainz is 3rd up of Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, Mercedes’ George Russell, Verstappen and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.

Leclerc’s rod was his 4th successful a statement astatine this way but he has yet to person immoderate into a win.

The Ferrari driver, who won nan Italian Grand Prix 2 weeks ago, said: “Looking backmost connected nan 3 years I person done pole, 1 we had nan car to beryllium pole, but nan 2021 and 2023 were peculiarly bully laps and we were retired of position, truthful I did not expect to triumph those years.

“In 2022, nan motor blew up erstwhile starring - unfortunate. And tomorrow I dream nan gait we person seen each play will still beryllium there, but it is simply a wholly different point because pinch precocious fuel, tyre degradation will beryllium a large point truthful we request to beryllium connected apical of this and if we are hopefully we tin bring nan triumph home.”

Norris’ champion dream for a bully consequence is for a chaotic, incident-packed title of nan benignant that person been regularly seen successful nan past.

Sainz said: “The biggest situation of Baku usually is erstwhile location are reddish flags because that breaks nan hit of nan race. I retrieve 1 twelvemonth location was 2 aliases 3 reddish flags connected nan aforesaid race, and past you person to hold while they clear nan track, and evidently that is nan biggest thing.

“Then nan information cars. Here it's very difficult to support somesthesia successful nan tyres, truthful whenever there's a safety-car restart, it's very easy to beforehand lock, very easy to spell wide into nan first 3 corners.

“So yeah, each these aspects make Baku an unpredictable race, because arsenic soon arsenic there's 1 curve ball, for illustration a information car aliases a reddish flag, it really generates moreover much chaos after, arsenic a snowball effect.”

Verstappen, for his part, is not optimistic of coming done to situation for victory, saying nan car’s behaviour did not springiness him assurance to onslaught successful qualifying.

"The measurement nan car feels now is not good,” Verstappen said.