LANDO NORRIS suffered a shock exit in Q1 to put a major dent in his title hopes in Azerbaijan.
The 24-year-old had to settle for P17 after he was knocked out of the first qualifying session in Baku due to a yellow flag coming out before he could finish his lap.
The Brit is 62 points behind leader Max Verstappen in the F1 drivers’ championship.
Meanwhile, McLaren are only eight points away from Red Bull in the F1 constructors’ title race.
Norris said: “The lap was easily good enough but it was a yellow flag so I had to back off.”
On potentially making up positions, he added: “I don’t think it’s as easy as that.
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“Honestly following is pretty much impossible around here and overtaking is a lot worse than what everyone thinks.
“I hope I’m wrong and I hope there are plenty of chances but I’m not expecting so, there are a lot of cars behind.
“It’s very low downforce which is pretty much impossible to overtake, I’m not expecting a lot from 17th.
“But we will put in a good plan tonight and do our best.”
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Charles Leclerc secured pole position in his Ferrari, fresh off the back of his win two weeks ago in Monza.
McLaren may be thinking twice about their decision to prioritise Norris in his title fight as his team-mate Oscar Piastri secured second.
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Verstappen slumped into just sixth place, behind his team-mate Sergio Perez who came in fourth.
Carlos Sainz finished third while George Russel was fifth and Lewis Hamilton came in seventh.
It was a chaotic qualifying in Baku, with a member of the Williams pit crew leaving a cooling fan attached to Alex Albon’s car in Q3.
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
