2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Qualifying Report

Baku City Circuit, Friday, 25 September

Find out what happened during FP3 and Qualifying in Azerbaijan, and get the thoughts of McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Drivers Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris and Team Principal Andrea Stella.

The McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team secured a decent Qualifying result at the 2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix this afternoon, with Oscar third and Lando fifth after a complicated opening two days of running around the Baku City Circuit.

With the upgrades introduced this weekend performing as expected, the characteristics of the circuit have not played to the strengths of the MCL40. Despite this, Oscar delivered a strong performance throughout the session to secure a place on the second row, missing the first row by just one thousandth of a second. Lando was also in contention near the front but left some performance on the table in Q3, with his final run aborted following a small lock-up resulting in him being unable to improve his lap time.

While the team were in position to challenge for second and third in Q3, the overall Qualifying picture suggested the McLaren Mastercard cars were fourth and fifth quickest overall, with Andrea Kimi Antonelli making a mistake to rule him out of running in Q2 and Max Verstappen’s final run affected by Yellow Flags, both of whom had been strong contenders for Pole.

Looking ahead to tomorrow’s race, we expect to be part of a closely matched leading group with Red Bull and Ferrari, behind Mercedes. Baku often produces long and eventful races, with tyre degradation, Safety Cars and other scenarios creating opportunities throughout. The team’s objective will be to remain in contention, fight for the podium, and be ready to exploit every opportunity that becomes available.

The afternoon began with a very useful Free Practice 3 session. Both cars ran well, completing 20 laps and gathering a lot of data for what looked to be a complex Qualifying session ahead. Overnight revisions to our new floorboards were checked throughout the session, and the fix proved effective. The most noticeable element of Free Practice 3, however, was a stronger, gusting wind than yesterday, leading to a multitude of Yellow Flags during the session. This did not bode well for a smooth Qualifying hour.

Qualifying got underway a few minutes late, delayed by marshals sweeping debris after a complicated Formula 2 race. Both Oscar and Lando went into the session with five sets of new Soft tyres, with a preference to save one set, if possible, as the Soft looks like a reasonable race tyre.

As you might expect with that information, the tyre was capable of multiple laps, and both drivers did just the one long run in Q1. Both drivers did a warm-up, Oscar set his best time on the first push lap, while Lando did his best lap on the final push of three. Lando came through the session P7 and Oscar P8. Lando had a scare mid-session, reporting something wrong with the front left, having seen sparks. The team couldn’t see anything in the data and reassured Lando – but it took considerable bravery for him to do the fastest first sector of the session immediately afterwards. Subsequent physical inspection didn’t reveal any problems, leaving the car clear to continue running.

The team took a different approach to Q2, opting for two shorter runs. Both drivers again completed a warm-up lap followed by a single push lap before returning to the garage. While their initial times looked strong enough to progress, both went out again at the end of the session on used Soft tyres to cover any improvement in track grip. This approach reflected what we had seen from our car: there was little difference between completing consecutive push laps on the same set and attempting to maximise the peak performance of a new tyre, making the used Soft a worthwhile option while preserving new rubber. Oscar improved to progress in P4, while Lando did not improve and advanced in P6.

Time was going to be tight in Q3, and both cars went to queue at the end of the pit lane. Solid first runs left Lando P3 and Oscar P4, and in position to push hard on their final runs, albeit without time for a warm-up. Lando had a lock-up on his final run, leaving him knocked to P5, whereas Oscar was able to find a couple of tenths to secure P3 in Q3.

With four teams in the top four positions, and several cars out of position, an eventful and dramatic race is expected. The team will continue to work hard this evening to ensure they get the best out of the upgraded MCL40.

Another papaya driver in action this weekend was McLaren Driver Development’s Dries Van Langendonck, who took to the track in British F4 at Silverstone. He finished Free Practice 1 in P2 and Free Practice 2 in P4, ahead of Qualifying and Race 1 tomorrow.

“I am very happy with today’s result. We haven't had the pace throughout practice, so to put it in the top 3, and so close to P2, is a very good feeling. A track like this exposes some of our weaknesses, so you have to push the car to 100%, which we were able to do this afternoon. The car felt much more connected and the upgrades are working as we expected them to, so thank you to the team.

“Looking ahead to tomorrow, whilst anything is possible here in Baku, I think catching George Russell might be tricky. While we know it may be a challenge, we are still in a good position to fight – we'll manage our strategy carefully, see what opportunities may appear and make the most of it.”

“The car felt in a good window throughout Qualifying today, and I was driving well, but we have been dealing with some challenges this weekend, especially with straight-line speed. I locked up at Turn 3 pushing for P2 on my final lap, which cost me today, but the Mercedes were very strong making Pole a very difficult target.

“Looking ahead to the race tomorrow, it’s going to be a tough afternoon because overtaking will be very complicated around this circuit. The potential is there and we will do everything we can to resolve our issues while fighting hard against Ferrari and Red Bull.”

Andrea Stella

Team Principal

“It was an interesting and complex Qualifying session. Finishing in P3 and P5 is a result we welcome after a challenging weekend so far, in which the characteristics of the circuit have not particularly suited our car and left us slightly on the back foot through practice. The upgrade package we brought to Baku is performing as expected, so I would like to thank everyone at the factory for their hard work in delivering these new parts.

“We should recognise that the final positions were helped by issues for some of our competitors, including Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen, who looked capable of challenging for Pole. Nevertheless, the team, Oscar and Lando did a good job to progressively unlock performance across the weekend. Oscar delivered a strong session to take P3, while Lando was also competitive, although his final Q3 run was compromised and there was lap time left on the table.

“Looking ahead to tomorrow, we expect Red Bull and Mercedes to be very strong. This is a different competitive picture from Madrid, where we felt we had the quickest car and should have won without the Virtual Safety Car. Baku can, however, produce a long and eventful race, with tyre degradation, Safety Cars and other situations creating opportunities.

“Our objective will be to stay in contention, fight for the podium and be ready to exploit every opportunity that comes our way. We will focus on executing our race well and putting ourselves in the best possible position to capitalise.”