Lando Norris Criticizes McLaren’s “Horrible” Gamble While Citing Caution for Fellow Competitors: “I would have crashed”

McLaren is clearly the surprise team of the weekend. The Papaya team worked tirelessly on the MCL60 during the break, and the work is starting to pay off. The Azerbaijan GP qualifying session was proof of that. However, the performance did not translate to positive results, at least during the sprint race and specifically for Lando Norris. However, the Brit revealed the reason behind his poor outing, thanks to the team’s gamble, which could’ve added to the team’s disasters.

Despite supporting the impulsive change to the format, Norris was put on a backfoot during the sprint qualifying. Despite that, he started the race in the middle of the field in tenth. However, Norris quickly fell down the order during the race and finished second last. Why? As quoted by Motorsport-Nextgen-Auto, Norris revealed the real reason behind his poor result.   

“I was on soft tyres, they were horrible,” said the British driver. “They weren’t horrible…they weren’t as expected!” (Translated by Google)

“It will be much better with the mediums. It’s not a bet, we just expected the softs to be better than they were. Better for the first corner, better for the start, and they were much worse than the mediums. I had no rhythm, and I would have crashed if I had done one more lap. It was bad judgment but we can understand,” he added.

Read More: Lando Norris Jumps on F1’s Impulsive Change Bandwagon

The sprint race result was a blessing in disguise for McLaren and hopefully, the team will have a better outing during the main race. Or they should, especially after Oscar Piastri proved the team has the pace with his performance despite his illness.

Despite a regretful sprint race in Baku for Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri saves face despite illness

If the sprint race in Baku proved one thing for McLaren, it was the team might be on the right developmental path. The upgrades the team brought to Baku are definitely working and Piastri put his stamp on it as well. “But he finished 10th and jumped just one place from his starting position.” However, the rookie drove under duress proving if the McLaren men give their 100% they can get positive results from the main race. In fact, Piastri is of the same belief.

“I survived! I felt good in the car, with adrenaline, but the period under Safety Car was difficult and I’m happy to have finished. I’m happy to have obtained tenth place,” said Piastri commenting on his illness and the state of the car. “There was a lot to learn today, and it was good to do some laps, which will really help us for the Grand Prix tomorrow.”

WATCH THIS STORY: How Lando Norris Had a Chance to Go to Red Bull But Instead Chose McLaren

Despite the below expectation result from the sprint, the team can be satisfied with the data collected and be better prepared for the main race. It will be interesting to see if both McLaren men will be able to score points by learning from their mistakes.