Lando Norris demands McLaren investigation into 'very painful' car issue

Lando Norris wants McLaren to urgently look at its straight-line speed deficit after a huge gap to Mercedes in Azerbaijan GP qualifying. 

Norris qualified in fifth place in Baku, but was 1.146s slower than pole-sitter George Russell in Q3 as the MCL40's weakness in a staight line was exposed.

McLaren's chassis, despite its recent upgrades, is still a draggy car, meaning on circuits with uber-long straights, such as the 2.2km long one in Baku's Sector 3, the car of Norris and Piastri is struggling. 

Some of the deficit to Russell can be explained by the fact Norris did not complete his final flying lap in Q3 after locking up and running wide at Turn 3, but the reigning F1 champion was not overly pleased with the situation as he voiced his demands for McLaren to look into the issue - something he felt was exacerbated on his car compared to team-mate Piastri, who took third and was 0.308s faster.

"I don't think we found any pace; why would you say that?" Norris shot back to media, including RacingNews365, during the post-session media pen. 

"Relative to others, we did, but I always expect that with lower fuel, I am still eight-tenths off pole, and to be honest, most of our time loss to them is still in the straights, and there is not a lot I can do about that.

"I've been comfortable in the car all weekend, and on the last lap, I made a mistake and paid the price, but I am at a point in the championship where I have to go for pole or I kind of die trying, and I paid the price for pushing too much.

"It is an area we just need to look at because we just look a step worse than Mercedes in everything straight-line related, so it is tough, especially with my car, which is worse than [Piastri's].

"So it is making our life very painful. 

"There are multiple issues, and there are more on my car for some reason than the other car, so we have to understand why.

"We need to take a big step in that direction if you want to be competitive on any straight-line speed track for the rest of the season."

Norris seeking McLaren investigation

Further explaining the issue of a lack of straight-line speed compared to Piastri, Norris kept details close, but said he was having to push "more."

"I'm basically having to push more than Oscar to try and make up for the [lack of] straight-line speed, and Mercedes have a very efficient car; they have done for years," he said.