Lando Norris brushed aside criticism after failing to capitalize on Oscar Piastri’s early crash at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The McLaren driver remained defiant, insisting he had pushed to the limit despite finishing seventh in Baku.
The race was dominated by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who claimed victory in style. For Norris, the outcome was frustrating. Piastri, his McLaren teammate and title rival, crashed out on the first lap. That left a golden chance for Norris, who started in seventh. Yet he crossed the line in the same position, collecting just six points and leaving the gap between them largely unchanged.
Critics suggested Norris had wasted an opportunity to reduce the 31-point deficit to Piastri. The 24-year-old Briton rejected that view. “I’m doing the best I can in every race,” he said. “Every second-place finish this year was a chance lost too. I don’t care how people look at it.”
Norris pointed to Saturday’s qualifying as the true cause of his result. His lap was scrappy, brushing the wall, while McLaren released him too early when the track grip was still developing. With overtaking notoriously difficult in Baku, his race prospects were set before the start.
“Of course I wanted more, so it was not a good result,” Norris admitted. “But it was lost yesterday. Today there was nothing I could do. Overtaking here is almost impossible.”
His frustrations deepened during the race as he was trapped in long DRS trains, unable to break free. A slow pit stop from McLaren, their second consecutive mishap with his car, further hurt his chances. Without that delay, Norris believed he might have gained at least two positions.
Despite the setbacks, he stressed he had maximized what was available. “I could have ended up in the wall, so I had to be smart,” Norris explained. “It might not have looked good from the outside, but the pace was not there. It was just too tough to pass. I know I still have a lot of points to recover against Oscar, who is an incredible driver. But I just need to keep my head down.”
Elsewhere on the grid, Mercedes had reason to celebrate. George Russell secured an impressive second place, despite racing under the cloud of illness. The Briton admitted he was relieved when the checkered flag appeared. “I was glad to see the finish, honestly,” he said. “I felt better today, but Friday and Saturday were really tough.”
Team principal Toto Wolff later revealed that Mercedes had even considered replacing Russell with reserve driver Valtteri Bottas due to the illness. “On Friday, it was touch and go,” Wolff explained. “George himself said he wasn’t sure he could make it. But he fought through, and to drive so cleanly here in Baku shows real determination.”
Russell’s second place gave Mercedes a morale boost, while Verstappen’s win kept Red Bull at the top of the field. For Norris, however, the weekend was one of missed chances. With Piastri out, he had hoped to make up valuable ground. Instead, the deficit remains, and the Briton will need to bounce back quickly if he hopes to stay in the title fight.
