2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix – Saturday Sprint "We learned a lot about the tyres, which puts us in a better position for tomorrow"
Baku City Circuit, Saturday, 29 April
Hear from McLaren Formula 1 drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Team Principal Andrea Stella after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix F1 Sprint.

SQ1 |
1m44.179s (Mediums) |
13th |
|
SQ2 |
1m43.427s (Mediums) |
11th |
|
Started |
11th |
|
|
Finished |
10th |
|
|
Fastest Lap |
1m44.776s lap 8 (+1.160, 9th) |
|
|
“I’m pleased with P10 in the Sprint. Given the way I've been feeling this weekend I'm glad I was able to get the Sprint done. With that said, there was a lot to learn today, and it was good to get the laps in, which will really help us in the Grand Prix tomorrow. We’ll have a look at what data we gathered, get a good night’s rest and prepare for tomorrow.”

SQ1 |
1m43.938s (Mediums) |
9th |
|
SQ2 |
1m43.395s (Mediums) |
10th |
|
SQ3 |
No time |
|
|
Started |
10th |
|
|
Finished |
17th |
|
|
Fastest Lap |
1m44.484s on lap 15 (+0.868, 6th) |
|
|
Pit-stops |
1, lap 10 [Softs/Mediums] (3.5s) |
“Not a great Sprint for us today. We took a bit of a gamble and thought the Softs would last a bit longer than they did, but unfortunately, they didn’t. I obviously had to box and in such a short race you can’t make up for it. So, it wasn’t the right decision today, but we learned a lot about the tyres, which puts us in a better position for tomorrow and that is the priority. Full focus now on the Grand Prix.”

“Coming into today’s Sprint, with eight quicker cars ahead or around us, we knew it would be difficult to score points, so we decided to take an aggressive approach with Lando, putting him on the Soft tyre, while being prudent with Oscar on Medium tyres. The Softs degraded rapidly and we had to make a pit-stop. Oscar drove very well to P10, considering that he’s still not feeling well.
“No points today but it was a good and useful long-run practice in preparation for the race, which remains our priority. Points go up to P10 tomorrow. We have a better understanding of the tyre behaviour and will work overnight to continue our preparation for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.”




The engineering room – In partnership with Google Chrome
Henry Fidler explains the trackside topics for this weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix
2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix – Friday Qualifying
"A big thanks goes to the team for their hard work in getting the new parts ready"
Oscar provides an insight into his F1 adaption
“It has been a learning process, but I feel like I am now getting more and more settled in”
QUIZ: How street-smart are you?
Street circuits make up more than a third of the F1 calendar, how much do you know about them?
Sign up now
McLaren Plus is our free-to-join fan loyalty programme, bringing McLaren fans closer to the team with the most inclusive, rewarding and open-to-all fan programmes in motorsport.
Sign up now, or current members can amend their details in the form below if necessary.