Lando Norris. Race Pictures

Ex F1 driver disagrees with Stella: This did derail Lando's race

10:10, 24 Sep

Updated: 11:32, 24 Sep

bySamson Ero

Jolyon Palmer has weighed in on Lando Norris' outing at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The former Formula 1 driver also disagreed with the comments of Andrea Stella, who had stated the McLaren team were not quick enough through the race weekend.

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Lando Norris had a slow stop at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend. Photo by RacePictures.

“This would have made a big difference to Norris.”

- Jolyon Palmer

Palmer, who analysed what went wrong for the championship contender at the Baku weekend on F1 TV, detailed his belief that the McLarens were quick enough for Norris to have finished higher than the seventh he was able to muster. The 34-year-old also stressed how a quicker pitstop for Norris would have translated into a fifth-place finish or better for the British driver.

“He was going long in the race with Yuki Tsunoda, trying to kind of overcut Charles Leclerc and Liam Lawson. They all would have come out very close together.”

“He would have come out ahead of Leclerc, which would have allowed him to also jump Tsunoda, [if he had a faster pitstop] and be the first car behind Liam Lawson. This would have made a big difference to Norris on the day as well, because the McLaren had the pace without a DRS trainer ahead to clear Lawson on much fresher tyres.”

“Tsunoda tried and couldn't make it. But with Norris' pace, it looks set that he probably would have been able to pass Lawson as well and then catch up towards Antonelli.”

“Probably it would have been a fifth-place finish, possibly even better on a miraculous day, but at least fifth place for Lando. That's four points down the pan, for a pit stop loss again. Really tough stuff for Lando Norris.”

Andrea Stella on Lando Norris’ outing

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella had initially admitted that the McLaren team failed to deliver a quicker car for both Norris and Oscar Piastri, who crashed on the opening lap of the race. The Italian motorsports chief also stressed the pitstop mishap suffered by the driver would have made little changes to the result recorded by Norris.

“The pit stop itself didn't make any difference because we would have ended up pretty much in the area of Leclerc. For me, the most important takeaway was that the car wasn't fast enough.”

"With a fast enough car, I think we would have been able to overtake and then have some free air, and then in free air actually use the full potential,” Stella said to Sky Sports following the conclusion of the race.

The Baku Street race marked the first time since the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix that the McLaren team recorded six points or fewer during a race weekend.

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