Lando Norris reacts to Q1 elimination in Baku as he fears making progress from P17 will be ‘pretty much impossible’

Lando Norris was left to rue what might have been after suffering a shock Q1 exit during qualifying for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, leaving the McLaren driver back in 17th on the grid for Sunday’s race.

Norris, who entered the Baku weekend looking to make further gains on Max Verstappen in the title battle, now finds himself starting 11 places behind the Red Bull man and at serious risk of losing precious ground.

In what was a frenetic end to the first qualifying phase, an under-pressure Norris experienced a wild slide in the final sector of his final lap before Esteban Ocon’s slow-moving Alpine meant he had to back off and failed to improve.

Azerbaijan GP Qualifying: Shock in Baku as Norris is knocked out in Q1

Asked after qualifying if it was a typical Baku scenario with the yellow flags catching him out at the wrong time, Norris sighed: “Yeah. It’s just that, really. The lap was easily good enough... Just a yellow flag, so I had to back off.”

Having cut Verstappen’s championship advantage to 62 points with a stellar run at recent events, Norris doubts he will have any chance of continuing that positive momentum on race day in Azerbaijan.

AS IT HAPPENED: Follow all the action from qualifying for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Put to him that Baku’s lengthy start/finish straight could offer him opportunities, he replied: “Yeah, but I don’t even think it’s as easy as that, honestly. Following is pretty much impossible around here and overtaking is I think a lot worse than what everyone thinks.

BAKU, AZERBAIJAN - SEPTEMBER 14: Oscar Piastri of Australia driving the (81) McLaren MCL38 Mercedes — Oscar Piastri went on to qualify second in the other McLaren behind pole-sitter Charles Leclerc

“I hope I’m wrong, of course. I hope there’s plenty of chances, but I’m not expecting so. There’s a lot of cars [I’m] behind who are very low downforce, which will be pretty much impossible to overtake.

“I’m honestly not expecting a lot from 17th, but we’ll put in a good plan tonight and we’ll do our best, of course. I don’t know what’s going to happen, so we’re just going to wait and see.”

While Norris experienced the disappointment of a Q1 elimination, team mate Oscar Piastri safely made it through to Q3 and fought for pole position – ultimately taking second behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.