Lando Norris faces an uphill task in a huge day for the F1 title race at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix as he starts 17th for Sunday’s race in Baku.
Norris had a disastrous Qualifying as he was eliminated in Q1 due to confusion with yellow flags, which forced him to abandon his lap as other drivers improved and faces the likelihood of his 62-point deficit to Max Verstappen increasing.
But Verstappen will only start the race in sixth as Red Bull’s struggles continued, and the Dutchman was outqualified by team-mate Sergio Perez for the first time since the 2023 Miami Grand Prix.
With both title contenders in the thick of the action on the tight, twisty Baku City Circuit, Sunday’s race, at 12pm on Sky Sports F1 and Main Event, will almost certainly be pivotal in the title race.
“Lando knows he has a quick car and Red Bull will suffer in a straight line with a big wing,” said 1997 F1 world champion and Sky Sports F1’s special guest pundit Jacques Villeneuve.
“Max is starting sixth and could have an issue at the start and not score points, then Lando finishes seventh or eighth and scores a few points.
“It’s not over in the championship battle. If Verstappen was on pole, it would be a different story.”
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The long runs in Friday practice suggested Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes and Red Bull were evenly matched.
A one-stop race is expected due to the low tyre degradation but there has been a Safety Car or Virtual Safety Car at every Azerbaijan Grand Prix since 2017.
Verstappen will be relieved that Norris is towards the rear of the grid, as Oscar Piastri proved McLaren had a car that was good enough for the front row behind pole-siter Charles Leclerc.
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Villeneuve feels Verstappen’s main focus will be on Norris and simply outscoring the British driver.
“You could see the car in qualifying was quite understeery, which is not something he likes,” he added. “To fix their rear end, that’s very nasty – they need to have a bit of understeer which suits Perez better.
“Max doesn’t like it, he doesn’t like to set up the car that way. It’s not a good sign for the race. Listening to Checo, he didn’t seem to have much confidence in him for the race too.
“They have the biggest rear wing of the whole field. That in the race, with the straight line, cannot be a good thing.”
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As for Norris, a third win of the season is off the table and the 24-year-old will have to limit the damage.
“There’s a long race ahead. We have some good tyres in the bank,” he said.
“I’m still hopeful we can get a good result. I think the car is quick.”
Could Leclerc give himself an outside shot in title race?
After taking a surprise victory in Monza two weeks ago, Leclerc’s dominance on Saturday appears to have confirmed Ferrari are very legitimately back in the mix at the front of the grid.
Not only did the Monegasque deliver two laps good enough for pole, but his team-mate Carlos Sainz, who has previously struggled in Baku, was able to strengthen Ferrari’s position by claiming third behind McLaren’s Piastri.
While all the focus has been on Norris chasing down Verstappen, Leclerc could leapfrog the Brit on Sunday if he were to win the race and the McLaren driver went pointless.
Ferrari could also surge back into the Constructors’ Championship battle, with the Italian squad just 39 points back from Red Bull, who lead McLaren by eight points.
“Let’s say it’s the best we could have hoped for,” said Leclerc, who is 86 points behind Verstappen in the Drivers’ Championship.
“I mean normally the even side of the grid has a little bit less grip, so first and third is where you want to start, and hopefully we can play a team game to win that race.
“But it’s going to be a long race. In the past we were very strong in Qualifying but struggling a bit in the race. This year we have a stronger race car, so I hope that we can finally make it.”
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Leclerc’s victory in Monza was built upon an audacious one-stop strategy that saw him brilliantly manage his tyres to overcome a McLaren front-row lockout.
With a one-stop strategy the likely order of the day in Baku on Sunday, Leclerc says he is ready to utilise his ‘tyre whispering’ skills once more.
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“Tyre management will be a big thing as well, so we’ve got to do a good job,” he added.
“We’ve done a really good job in Monza. But we have to reset every race as we do, and that’s what we did.
“Sunday is another race with other issues, even though tyre degradation is there. It’s with different tyres so you’ve got to adapt to that, and we’ll do our homework to get ready.”
Sky Sports F1’s live Azerbaijan GP schedule
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Sunday September 15
8.30am: F2 Feature Race
10:30am: Grand Prix Sunday: Azerbaijan GP build-up*
12pm: The AZERBAIJAN GRAND PRIX*
2pm: Chequered Flag: Azerbaijan GP reaction
3pm: Ted’s Notebook
*also live on Sky Sports Main Event
Formula 1 leaves mainland Europe for Baku and the Azerbaijan Grand Prix this Sunday at 12pm, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month Membership – No contract, cancel anytime
