Credits: IMAGO Motorsport Images

Lando Norris suffered a shock exit from Q1 in Baku on Saturday, owing to unfortunate circumstances. Pushing to make it to the next round, a momentary yellow flag had him abort a strong lap, meaning he wouldn’t improve from a P17 standing. Looking back at the events that transpired, Marc Priestley feels the Briton could have done a simple maneuver to save his Qualifying session.

Speaking on the F1: Chequered Flag Podcast, the former McLaren mechanic detailed how Norris could have avoided getting eliminated. Drivers sometimes take their foot off the throttle for the telemetry to spike down, before going at it again.

In such a case, teams can show the FIA that drivers did sacrifice on their lap, owing to a yellow flag. Priestly stated,

“What we normally see is the driver just lifting off the throttle pedal, just so you get a little marker in the data. So when the FIA want to come back and look at it, they can show that you did actively lift off the throttle“.

Per Priestley, that is what Norris should have done, instead of aborting his lap altogether. Knowing full well that he was on a strong lap, the #4 driver needed to take the risk, given that he is a contender for the title.

Meanwhile, McLaren approached the FIA, seeking answers over what happened. McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said in an interview, “We were discussing now with the FIA as to why a yellow flag was displayed at that moment in time, which was extremely costly.”

At the time, Andrew Benson was in active conversation with F1 insiders, who told him Norris was certainly shown a yellow flag, burying any doubts about the flag being white. Running the risk of a DSQ, Norris had to lift off and abort, meaning the pressure would now be on Oscar Piastri.

Piastri under the limelight in Baku

With Norris nowhere near the front of the grid, all the pressure is now riding on the shoulders of his 23-year-old teammate. Starting the race from P2, Piastri will be in the limelight in Baku and he would want nothing less than a win in Baku.

As for Norris, while the drivers’ championship dreams live on, things have become much more complicated for him. Hoping to cut down on a 62-point deficit, the #4 driver will most likely see the gap increase. Meanwhile, his team’s focus will be on leaving Azerbaijan as the leaders of the constructors’ championship.

But it won’t be a walk in the park for the Woking-based team. With two Ferraris sandwiching Piastri, the Aussie will have to fight two battles at once. Thus, while the Italian team has the upper hand, McLaren will be hoping for a quick getaway from Piastri to take the race lead as soon as possible while also keeping any undercut chances at bay.