Lando Norris expressed immense joy over McLaren’s performance in Baku, where he climbed 11 positions to finish fourth, while his teammate secured the team’s fourth victory of the season.
Despite a challenging qualifying session that saw Norris eliminated in Q1 due to slowing for yellow flags, he embraced the challenge of starting from P15 on the grid. Norris made a remarkable charge through the field, utilizing an extended stint on hard tires. Originally expected to finish sixth, a penultimate lap crash between Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz moved him up to fourth, leaving him less than five seconds from the podium.
Oscar Piastri secured a thrilling victory ahead of pole-sitter Charles Leclerc, capping off an enormously successful weekend for McLaren, propelling them to the top of the constructors’ standings. After the race, Norris expressed his happiness for the result, acknowledging both his own and Piastri's performances. He remarked that he could have been happier had it not been for the yellow flag during qualifying.
"Another win for Oscar is fantastic, and I'm thrilled for him and the entire team, as a win is always a great achievement," he said. "Achieving both a win and a fourth place from where we started was unexpected, so it was a great points haul. We outscored Red Bull again, which was our goal, and we were actually the top points scorers as a team, which was a surprise before the race. The car was amazing today, giving us a lot of confidence for the upcoming races."
With seven rounds remaining in the season, McLaren now holds a 20-point lead over Red Bull in the constructors’ championship, marking their first lead since 2014. Reflecting on their progress since the opening race in Bahrain, where Norris finished 48 seconds behind the winner, he credited the entire team for their efforts.
"I’ll take a small part of the credit, and I’m sure Oscar will too," Norris commented. "We’ve both played a significant role, as few teams have two drivers consistently scoring like Oscar and I have. At the first race, we were behind Mercedes, but now we’re well ahead. They’ve done a good job, but we’ve done an amazing job. To outscore, outpace Red Bull, and be the top team in Formula 1 is something we should all be proud of."