McLaren facing back-foot fight after day of 'disruption' in brutal Baku

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella was left to rue a "tougher than we wanted" day of practice for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix that has left Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri on the back foot going into qualifying.

Friday at the Baku Street Circuit was arguably the messiest for the team in what has so far been a near-exemplary display across a dominant season which has carried it to the brink of a second successive constructors' title that could be clinched on Sunday.

The day was kick-started by a PU issue for Piastri minutes into FP1 that initially appeared serious, but was resolved during a 26-minute red-flag period for a bizarre kerb problem, and did not have too much of an impact.

Although finishing one-two on the timesheet, there were little brushes of the barriers on occasion that were the portent for what then unfolded in FP2, significantly from Norris, who broke the left-rear suspension on his MCL38 after clouting a wall.

Piastri then later heavily clipped a barrier that undermined his soft-tyre, low-fuel run, leaving the championship leader and main rival Norris 12th and 10th respectively. It was the first time this season McLaren ended Friday practice without at least one of its drivers in the top three.

To add to Piastri's day, in particular, he was given a reprimand by the stewards - his first of the season - for a marginal failure to slow for yellow flags.

Stella described the day overall as "disruptive", due to the "multiple red and yellow flags interrupting both sessions."

He added: "We know this is a tight circuit with little room for mistakes, and today was tougher than we wanted, with stop-start running making it difficult to get a clean rhythm.

“The team worked hard to investigate an issue with Oscar’s PU in FP1, which was quickly rectified, allowing Oscar to get back on track, thankfully missing little running due to the red flag.

"On Lando’s side, he had some contact with the wall when pushing to the limit in FP2, unfortunately cutting his session short.

"Oscar also brushed the wall on his new tyre run, so we didn’t have a chance to demonstrate our true pace this afternoon."

Despite the interruptions, Stella insists that his team was still "able to collect some important data that can be taken away".

But he knows the fight for pole will not be straightforward, especially with Ferrari in form as Lewis Hamilton surprisingly spearheaded a one-two, finishing half a second clear of Mercedes' George Russell and Kimi Antonelli.

"We will consolidate our learnings as a team and refine what we can to make steps forward in tomorrow's final practice session," said Stella.

"Today’s sessions confirm we can expect another tight and competitive challenge for pole in qualifying tomorrow."