McLaren Eyes F1 History In Baku But Brutal Practice Session Throws Wrench In Plans
The F1 driver race is between two McLaren drivers.
McLaren has been absolutely dominant this Formula 1 season, so much so that they have an opportunity at history this weekend in Azerbaijan.
Unfortunately, a rough practice session on Friday afternoon may have just made that a little bit tougher.
While the Drivers' Championship is still a pretty serious battle between McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, with Piastri holding the lead at the moment, the Constructors' Championship is all but locked up.
With just eight race weekends left, including this one, McLaren has a massive 337-point lead over Ferrari in P2. If they can grow that lead to 346 points by the time they leave Baku, they will have locked up the championship with seven race weekends left, and that's the earliest it has ever been done in Formula 1 history.
The current record belongs to Red Bull, who clinched a title with six races left in 2023.
The easiest way to make sure this happens is to finish 1-2 in the Grand Prix, and things were looking good in the first practice session as the McLaren boys topped the timesheet with Norris three tenths up on Piastri.
FP2, however, was a different story.
Norris found a concrete barrier exiting one of the 90-degree corners in the first part of the lap, and that left his car way out of alignment and crab-walking back to the pits.
A little bit later, Piastri made even harder contact with a barrier, but he managed to get away with less damage as he hit padding.
That cost both cars quite a bit of track time, and, as we talked about yesterday, the Baku Street Circuit is tricky when it comes to striking the right aerodynamic balance. This is due to its twisty, technical middle sector, and a third sector that is nothing but the longest straightaway on the entire F1 calendar.
Norris and Piastri finished the session in P10 and P12, respectively, but to make matters more concerning, Ferrari and Mercedes had a great afternoon in the session that most closely resembled track conditions during qualifying and the race.
Lewis Hamilton led Charles Leclerc for a Ferrari 1-2, while George Russell led Kimi Antonelli for a Mercedes 3-4.
There's certainly plenty of time for McLaren to bounce back, but missing out on big chunks of a key practice session will make historically clinching that title considerably more difficult.