LANDO NORRIS' WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP HOPES SUFFER A BLOW AS HE FINISHES IN 17TH PLACE IN QUALIFYING FOR THE AZERBAIJAN GRAND PRIX

Lando Norris finished 17th in qualifying for the Azerbaijan Grand Pix
Charles Leclerc will be on pole in Baku, with Oscar Piastri in second

Lando Norris suffered a terrible setback to his world championship ambitions when he qualified a dismal 17th for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

The Briton needs every point he can muster as he tries to overhaul defending champion Max Verstappen, whose lead stands at 62 with eight races remaining.

It was a missed opportunity because the Dutchman was complaining about his Red Bull and will only start from sixth, while Charles Leclerc is on pole in Baku for the fourth time.

Norris ran wide at Turn 16, losing him valuable time, and then lifted off significantly as a yellow flag briefly flashed. He was in the drop zone at that stage and a more ruthless driver would surely have kept his foot flat to the floor and argued about it later.

Yet Norris, 24, maintained: ‘The lap was easily good enough but there was a yellow flag, so I had to back off.’

As for Sunday's race he added: ‘I don’t expect anything magical unless strategy comes into play.

‘Following is pretty much impossible around here and overtaking is a lot worse than everyone thinks.’

In truth, Norris will likely need a quirky safety car to take the win or bank the heavy points he so desperately requires.

The crying shame is that the McLaren he is driving was fast enough for his team-mate Oscar Piastri to qualify in second place, with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz third.

Norris should never have been in so much jeopardy, down with the backmarkers, at that point of the session.

McLaren were unhappy afterwards that the yellow flag was waved. Team principal Andrea Stella said: ‘We are discussing now with the FIA as to why it was displayed at that moment, which was extremely costly.’

The FIA said on Saturday night that the yellow flag was correct because Alpine’s Esteban Ocon was on three wheels, having crashed at Turn 5.

2024-09-14T15:51:35Z dg43tfdfdgfd