F1 Today | Norris suffers wall mishap as Ferrari leads the field in Baku

During Friday’s FP2 session in Baku, Lando Norris suffered a dramatic moment at Turn 4, colliding with the wall and breaking the suspension on his McLaren. Remarkably, the British driver managed to steer his damaged car back to the pits, avoiding a red flag and keeping the session flowing.

At the time of the crash, Norris had been running strongly in third, trailing only the two Ferraris of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.

The session threw another challenge shortly after, as teammate Oscar Piastri also clipped the wall at Turn 15. Unlike Norris, Piastri was able to continue without major damage, though McLaren clearly faces work to refine their cars ahead of qualifying.

Lando Norris and McLaren sent a strong signal on Friday morning in Baku, topping FP1 by three-tenths of a second ahead of teammate Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

Piastri’s session was cut short after just five minutes due to a power unit issue, leaving the McLaren mechanics with plenty of work. Shortly after, Carlos Sainz ran over a kerb at Turns 16 and 17, sending debris onto the track and prompting a red flag that halted the session for over 25 minutes as the circuit was repaired.

Once the track reopened, Norris showcased McLaren’s pace advantage, setting a 1:42.704 with just over 11 minutes remaining, over a second faster than Verstappen and Piastri.

FP2 saw Lewis Hamilton lead a Ferrari one-two, finishing just ahead of Charles Leclerc with a fastest lap of 1:41.293, while George Russell completed the top three. Max Verstappen was sixth, six-tenths off Hamilton.

Norris hit the wall at Turn 4, breaking his suspension, but impressively brought the car back to the pits without causing a red flag. Minutes later, Piastri also touched the wall at Turn 15 but was able to continue running.