By Alan Baldwin
(Reuters) – McLaren can go top of the Formula One constructors’ standings in Azerbaijan this weekend on a Baku street circuit that has favoured champions and leaders Red Bull more than any team in the past.
The British-based team start the final long-haul phase of the season only eight points behind faltering rivals they have outscored by more than that margin in all of their last five races.
Lando Norris, 62 points behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in the drivers’ battle, has yet to stand on the podium in Baku while team mate Oscar Piastri, 106 off the lead, finished 11th as a rookie last year.
This time could be different, with McLaren’s upgraded car looking quick everywhere.
The big question will be whether team orders will be applied, should the occasion arise, to boost Norris’s chances after a golden opportunity was missed in Monza.
“Our goal is clear. I have every faith in the team to keep working and improving. Now with both championships on the table, we’re more determined than ever. I’m proud of the team and can’t wait to see what we can do this weekend,” said the Briton.
Once-dominant triple champion Verstappen is on a six-race losing streak and finished only sixth in the most recent round in Italy, won by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
The Dutch driver won on the shores of the Caspian Sea in 2022 but Red Bull team mate Sergio Perez has the better record there and is the only driver to have triumphed twice.
“Monza was a tough race and it is our priority to get our form back to where it needs to be,” said Verstappen, who has spent time in the factory simulator ahead of the first leg of a double-header with Singapore.
“The team has been working hard to improve the issues we have been seeing with the car from the past few races.”
In Monza, Verstappen had described his car as an undriveable monster.
While Red Bull have won the last three races in Baku, Leclerc is chasing his fourth successive Azerbaijan GP pole position with his team only 39 points behind Red Bull with eight rounds remaining.
The Ferrari driver, and team mate Carlos Sainz, could be contenders for victory at a tricky circuit that combines fast slipstreaming on the straights with tricky, twisty turns through the old town.
“We have usually been quite competitive here and it is also one of Charles’ favourites. We are on a high following the win in Monza and we are determined to maintain this run of form,” said team boss Fred Vasseur.
Mercedes also have reasons to be optimistic, despite difficult recent races in the Netherlands and Italy, as the only team other than Red Bull to have won in Baku.
“We head to Baku aiming for a better performance than we showed in Zandvoort and Monza,” said team boss Toto Wolff.
“We have the opportunity to show we have done the necessary learning and made improvements both for this weekend in Azerbaijan and the following week in Singapore.”
Kevin Magnussen will be absent from the starting grid, the Haas driver triggering a one race ban for accumulated penalty points.
Ferrari reserve Oliver Bearman, who will be taking the Dane’s place next season, stands in — for the second time this season after replacing appendicitis-stricken Sainz at Ferrari in Melbourne.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Toby Davis)
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