Lando Norris makes “long way off” claim: “I’m having to push way too much”
"I'm having to push way too much to try and get a lap time out of it."
Lando Norris believes McLaren are a “long way off” the pace following a tricky Friday practice at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Norris found himself well down the timesheets after his best lap was impeded by Alpine driver Pierre Gasly.
It left Norris 17th overall, while McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri set the fifth-fastest time.
Still, Piastri was around 0.5s shy of Charles Leclerc at the top of the order.
Reflecting on the Gasly incident, Norris said: "No, probably not his fault. It's just here you don't deploy the power until very late.
“So he's just clearly misjudged it. It didn't matter. I'd done my lap already. It's just a straight until then.”
The true pace of the McLaren is still yet to be unleashed given Norris was impeded.
McLaren’s main competitors, Red Bull, appear to be back on form though.
In the hands of Sergio Perez, Red Bull were narrowly pipped to top spot with just 0.006s between the Mexican and Leclerc.
Assessing McLaren’s pace, Norris said: “We're quite a long way off. I'm having to push way too much to try and get a lap time out of it. I think where Oscar was is kind of more where we are.
“So I think if we nail it, we're just about there, but I'm sure they're not even close to nailing it yet. I think we have quite a lot to find, honestly.”
Norris believes Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull are all “very similar” in pace, leaving McLaren as the fourth-best team on Friday in Baku.
"Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull, they're all very similar,” he explained. “And then there's a good three, four tenth gap back to us so a lot of work to do. Ferrari are very quick here.
“Mercedes will be quick with these track conditions. It's very slidey out there. We perform well on the higher grip circuits. Finding it difficult but we'll work hard tonight.”
