McLaren brought a new upgrade package to the F1 Azerbaijan GP on Friday. However, the numbers didn’t flatter it. Technical director Rob Marshall struck a measured tone after the team’s opening running. Meanwhile, reigning world champion Lando Norris described a car that felt good but simply lacked pace. Both cars also lost time to floor problems in FP1, adding another layer to a tricky day.
Rob Marshall: “We’ve got a lot of data to collect”
Marshall was asked about the upgrade package’s performance on its first outing during FP1 and FP2 at Baku. He kept his answer grounded in process rather than lap times.
“Yeah, pretty good really. I think we’ve got a lot of data to collect and we clearly need to dial the car in a bit better. We’re getting lots of numbers out of it, it’s telling us what we think we want to see.”
Friday was about data first and results second. That approach fits McLaren’s wider picture for the F1 Azerbaijan GP since this is a track that rarely rewards teams on their first attempt.
A unique circuit, a harder read
When questioned further, while also noting that Marshall’s own simulations set certain expectations, and how hard it is to judge an upgrade at such an unusual venue, Marshall explained why Baku complicates the picture.
“It’s a unique circuit and I think these cars are very different this year. Maybe this is one of the circuits where it’s harder to really make a judgement because you’ve got so much going on with the power unit. That is obviously a significant contributor to the lap time as well. So getting that dialled in, in parallel with what we do with the chassis is obviously critical. I don’t think we’ve got either right yet.”
Asked whether the package fell short of its optimum, pointing to the gap behind the Mercedes and to Norris’s own comment that McLaren looked “miles off”, Marshall didn’t dispute it. Instead, he pointed to the team’s usual weekend trajectory.
“Yeah, absolutely. A lot of that is confidence, a lot of that is just improving through the weekend. I think we’ve shown over previous events that we’re quite good at basically getting the car better between Friday and Saturday. So hopefully we do some overnight and get our heads together and work out what we need to do slightly differently where we go.”
Marshall kept it brief when he was further questioned on whether everything on the car was working as expected, “Yeah, there’s no shocks.”
Lando Norris: “We’re just miles off the pace”
Norris’ own read on Friday matched Marshall’s caution, though his language was blunter. He did not hide his frustration when he was asked about how the pace felt.
“It’s impossible to win a track like this compared to last weekend. The guys say it works well and that’s the positive. The car feels good, we’re just miles off the pace.”
Norris broke the deficit down corner by corner when he was asked about the unusally large gaps on track.
“I don’t know, we’re in a slow speed track with a very long straight. Mercedes are quicker than us in every slow speed corner as we expect, and quicker than us in the straight than we expect. I think that nothing is a surprise, maybe the size of it is. I said yesterday I don’t expect to be that great here. Of course I hope to be better than my expectation. I don’t think it’s a surprise, but we’ll see what we can improve for tomorrow.”
That answer defines McLaren’s Friday at the F1 Azerbaijan GP. Norris expected a tough weekend, and Baku delivered exactly that, only more so.
Floor issues and lost track time
Both McLarens also picked up floor problems in FP1. Of course, Norris was questioned on the cause of the issue, but he remained blunt in not knowing, “I’m not sure, you can ask the team.”
On a tight street circuit like Baku, it must have been painful for Norris to lose track time. However, he downplayed the setback. “It’s not that bad, I feel pretty confident with the car, the car feels pretty good. It doesn’t help, of course, maybe I’m a few laps behind, but I’m used to it now.”
McLaren’s Friday at F1 Azerbaijan GP raises more questions
Friday in Baku gave McLaren more questions than answers. Marshall wants more laps before he judges the upgrade fairly. Norris, meanwhile, already expects a tough weekend and simply wants to close the gap he predicted. Neither driver nor engineer sugarcoated the deficit.
If McLaren follows its usual pattern, Saturday should look closer than Friday did. For the rest of the F1 Azerbaijan GP weekend, turning Friday’s data into real pace will decide how much of that gap actually closes for McLaren.
