Baku City Circuit, Saturday, 14 September

Hear from McLaren Formula 1 drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, as well as Team Principal Andrea Stella, after Qualifying for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

“I’m happy to be starting P2. This track rewards commitment, and on the last lap I knew I had a lot less to lose, so I was trying to maximise the potential of the car to get the most out of it, and I think I did. I got a bit closer to the walls than I might have liked, but I’m very happy with my performance in Q3. We can be very optimistic from where we’re starting. Our pace is good – but that Ferrari is not slow either, so it should be a very exciting race. I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do tomorrow.”

“It’s frustrating to be knocked out of Qualifying in Q1 but there was nothing I could do. I was shown a yellow flag and slowed down, which ended my chances of getting a lap in. Until then the pace looked good, and we wouldn’t have had a problem getting into Q2. Frustrating, but now we look ahead to tomorrow and see where we can maximise the result. This isn’t the easiest track to overtake at, but opportunities often present themselves in Baku. We’ll work hard tonight and see what we can do tomorrow.”

“It’s been a mixed Qualifying for us here in Baku. On Lando’s side, he was unfortunate to not get his second lap in due to an unexpected yellow flag caused by a slow car out of Turn 16. Before that his pace looked close to that of Oscar’s, who progressed comfortably into Q2 with a P3. A frustrating result, but the Baku City Circuit often throws up opportunities throughout the race, so we will work tonight to ensure we are in a condition to maximise our result and score valuable points tomorrow.

“On Oscar’s side we were able to extract the potential pace from the car and secure a front-row start for tomorrow. It’s a very strong performance from Oscar to be P2 at this track, second only to Charles Leclerc who already has a few pole positions at this circuit. It shows the strength and maturity of Oscar, and offers us a good chance to fight for an important result tomorrow, when multiple Teams can be in contention for the win.”