After being told by McLaren that he needed to prioritise his teammate’s world title bid, Oscar Piastri has qualified second for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, while Lando Norris will start 17th.
McLaren have had the best car for several races and Norris has steadily closed the gap in the drivers’ championship to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, whose dominance over F1 has disappeared.
In a week where McLaren confirmed they would prioritise Norris over Piastri, after the Australian outclassed the world title challenger in Monza, the Brit could only qualify 17th fastest and was knocked out of Q1.
He had to watch from the Paddock as his teammate, who finished second in Monza, soared to second while Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc claimed pole.
The major blow for Norris was compounded when he watched Verstappen struggle to sixth-fastest.
With time expiring at the end of Q1 and Norris on his flying lap, the Alpine of Esteban Ocon ahead clipped the wall and slowed down.
A yellow flag was briefly displayed on a digital panel in front of Norris, but was then quickly removed. Norris immediately slowed down, but he had not made it to the panel so he could have maintained pace to that point, which no longer had the yellow flag.
McLaren believed a yellow flag had been waived meaning Norris slowed down and aborted his final lap, however, there seemed to be confusion if a yellow flag had been waived.
“It is what it is, long race ahead, we have some good tyres in the bank,” a dejected Norris told Sky Sports F1.
“I’m still hopeful we can get a good result, the car is still quick. A little bit frustrating but nothing I could do.”
When asked if he had the “green light” to race for the win tomorrow, Piastri cheekily said “definitely”.
“I think following around here will be really tough, so hopefully I can get some clean air but I think our race pace is good,” he said.
“But the Ferraris are not slow.”
