There were contrasting emotions in the McLaren camp after the 2024 Azerbaijan GP. Oscar Piastri grabbed his second F1 win while Lando Norris had to settle for fourth, having started in 15th. Looking back at the race, Peter Windsor believes that Piastri’s win might have devastated the #4 driver.
Windsor began by labeling both Piastri and Norris as incredibly fast drivers. However, every team has one driver that is designated as their number one.
Until now, Norris would have assumed that position, given his seniority. However, Windsor believes that Piastri’s breakthrough performance might have crushed the Briton’s confidence in that regard.
He explained, on YouTube, “Lando must be feeling sick as a dog. There’s nothing worse than being ahead of your teammate on points, being, in theory, the lead driver, and waking up knowing that guy has driven a blitzingly brilliant race and you’ve been, you know, P4.”
Norris is out in Q1! But was he unlucky or did another stupid mistake?
You can see yellow flag briefly super far away in T15, then passing Ocon with a puncture, but seeing green flag then.
Also did a mistake in T15 and slow (not stationary) Ocon should be white, not yellow. pic.twitter.com/vxWNJrjs1A
— Maxx | F1newsletter.com (@F1_Newsletter) September 14, 2024
To make matters worse, the team had publicly backed Norris for the remainder of the season just before the race weekend. The McLaren drivers had publicly revealed that Piastri would support Norris to help the Briton in his championship fight against Max Verstappen
Roles reversed between Piastri and Norris at Baku
Instead of Piastri playing wingman for Norris, the Briton had to take up that role, starting from P15 on the grid. The Briton successfully held up Sergio Perez on his out lap after his pitstop, allowing Piastri to save himself from being undercut by the Mexican.
That being said, Norris really did not have a choice other than to support Piastri’s race. The 24-year-old started from the eighth row on the grid and was really not troubling the race leaders.
https://t.co/nQukRPNUmZ via @wearetherace
Oscar Piastri drove a fine race in Baku and thoroughly deserved his second F1 career victory!
He had some help from Lando Norris, who duly held up Sergio Perez to scupper any chances he had of winning.#F1
— Ashley Woodhouse (@AshWoody90) September 16, 2024
Despite finishing fourth at the chequered flag, Norris will be ruing the missed opportunities. With Verstappen struggling to perform, the Azerbaijan GP was the perfect opportunity for Norris to reduce the points deficit between himself and the Dutchman.
However, coming off the weekend without a win meant he could only take a small chunk out of Verstappen’s championship lead. Going into the last seven races of the season, Norris’ odds have certainly reduced. But McLaren find themselves in the lead of the Constructors’ championship for the first time in 10 years.
