NORRIS: “I WAS SURPRISED TO FINISH AHEAD OF VERSTAPPEN IN THE AZERBAIJAN GP”
Lando Norris explains his role in Oscar Piastri’s victory in Baku after climbing from 15th to finish fourth.
Lando Norris said he was surprised to finish ahead of his championship rival Max Verstappen in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after starting from 15th, and that he was happy to have played a “small role” in teammate Oscar Piastri’s win. Norris had only qualified 17th due to an unfortunate yellow flag interrupting his final Q1 lap, forcing him to slow down instead of completing his lap.
Norris moved up to 15th place thanks to Lewis Hamilton starting from the pit lane and Pierre Gasly being disqualified from qualifying, but he was still preparing for an afternoon of damage limitation on the streets of Baku.
However, starting on hard tires with an alternate strategy, Norris made a strong start, soon climbing into the top 10 behind Alex Albon, who was also on hard tires, and passed several midfield runners, including Max Verstappen and George Russell, after their early pit stops.
Albon’s pit stop allowed Norris to enjoy some clear air before making his own stop on lap 38, and while Russell passed Verstappen to take the podium, Norris reclaimed fourth by overtaking a struggling Verstappen during the pit-stop phase.
After securing the extra point for the fastest lap, which helped reduce the championship gap from 62 to 59 points, Norris said, “I don’t think we could have asked for more today. Eighth place would have made us happy because we expected the top four teams to lock out the top eight spots.”
“A good start, a good strategy. I would have loved to pass Alex a little earlier. He made life difficult for me.”
“Once Alex pitted – I think I had the best pace on hard tires out there from the start of the race and managed to create a good gap – I was able to extract the full potential of the car. The car was flying, which makes me even more frustrated about yesterday and how stupid that yellow flag was.”
Asked whether he was surprised to finish ahead of Verstappen after defending from him during the pit stop and closing the pit-stop-sized gap, Norris replied, “I was a little surprised. When you start 15th, you don’t really expect to pass him. I was about 20-22 seconds behind where they were. But to open up a gap on him, pit, and still manage to pass him… I guess I wasn’t expecting that.”
Before clearing Albon’s Williams, Norris played a supportive role in Piastri’s victory.
The Australian driver was vulnerable to an undercut after Red Bull’s Sergio Perez pitted early, as Piastri couldn’t respond immediately. However, Norris slowing down Perez allowed Piastri to pit two laps later and rejoin in second, a second ahead of Perez, from where he overtook race leader Charles Leclerc to win the race.
Speaking to Sky Sports F1, Norris said, “At that point, I was still stuck behind Alex, so I couldn’t do much.”
“I didn’t slow down; I just saved my tires a bit more because they were starting to overheat.”
“That allowed Oscar to stay ahead and win today, so I’m happy to have been a small part of that, and that’s what we needed to do as a team.”
“I don’t think it changed my result, but it changed Oscar’s, and that’s the most important thing.”
“That was my job today, to help Oscar, and to come away with a first and a fourth place was perfect.”
