Lando Norris cannot cash in on Oscar Piastri crash and has to settle for seventh

Lando Norris felt seventh was the best he could manage at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and admitted he paid the price for a poor qualifying after failing to punish title rival Oscar Piastri’s first-lap crash.

Piastri threw the championship door wide open to Norris after crashing out of both qualifying and the race but the British driver could take only six points out of his title lead.

Norris finished where he started after a scrappy qualifying lap left him only two places ahead of his McLaren team-mate on the grid.

Max Verstappen charged to a dominant win, pulling himself to within 69 points of Piastri and tentatively emerging as a title threat.

Piastri endured a disaster in Baku, jumping the start before stalling and falling to the back of the pack before slamming nose-first into the wall at turn five.

Norris started poorly himself and his McLaren did not have the pace to move through the field, meaning he leaves Baku still 25 points adrift of Piastri.

“I wanted to do better today, I needed to do better yesterday,” Norris said.

“I felt like I was close to maximising today. It didn’t maybe look like it from the outside, but we struggled with the pace.

“If I started second, I think I would have finished second.

“I’m doing the best I can in every race. I know I still have a lot of points to make up against an incredible driver. I just need to keep my head up.”

Norris lost out to Isack Hadjar on lap one and was overtaken by Leclerc at the safety-car restart following Piastri’s crash.

He recovered to eighth but could find no way past Leclerc as overtaking was at a premium throughout the field.

McLaren kept Norris out until lap 38 but a slow pit stop meant he rejoined eighth again and, although he overtook Leclerc, the 25-year-old could make no further progress.

Piastri was pictured watching the race unfold from the side of the track. His retirement ended a 34-race finishing streak and was the culmination of a weekend littered with uncharacteristic mistakes.

“I think it’s rare that I have so many executional errors, so very much focused on putting that behind me,” Piastri said.

“There’s not been anything that different. For me, if I felt like I was in a completely different headspace, then it’s easier to blame it on that.

“This weekend’s felt like any other weekend, just unfortunately there’s been far too many mistakes from start to finish.”

George Russell produced a brilliant drive after battling illness throughout the weekend to claim second, having started fifth, while Carlos Sainz delivered Williams’ first podium since 2021.

The Spaniard, nicknamed the ‘smooth operator’, was overjoyed on the team radio, saying: “This is my first smooth operation for Williams. And it won’t be the last.”

But nobody was a match for Verstappen, who backed up a typically-brilliant pole lap around the wind-swept streets of Baku with a flawless lights-to-flag victory.

“Seven races to go and it’s still 69 points, it’s a lot,” Verstappen said.

“Basically, everything needs to go perfect from my side and then a bit of luck from their side I need as well. So it’s still very tough.”