Portugal Colonial - Title-chasing Norris and McLaren 'a long way' off the pace in Baku

Both drivers were left well adrift of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc who outpaced Red Bull's Sergio Perez to set the fastest time, prompting title-challenger Norris to admit he and his team faced much overnight homework to find a solution.

"We're quite a long way off," he said, drawing only slight consolation from seeing Max Verstappen, Red Bull's three-time champion and series leader, wind up sixth behind Piastri.

"I'm having to push way too much to try and get a lap time. Where Oscar is, that is kind of more where I think we are. So, I think if we nail it, we're just about there, but I'm sure they're not even close nailing it yet.

"Honestly, I think we have quite a lot to find."

Norris, who is 62 points behind Verstappen in the drivers' title race with eight races remaining, plus three sprint races, said he did not blame an incident with Alpine's Pierre Gasly, on a hot lap, for his poor showing.

"Probably not his fault," said Norris. "It's just that here, you don't deploy the power until very late so he's clearly misjudged it. It didn't matter. I'd done my lap already."

McLaren said on Thursday that they intended to introduce team orders to support Norris's title bid during the remaining races, but he made clear he did not want to rely on anyone else in his bid to beat Verstappen.

Assessing the team's pace, he said: "Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull, they are all very similar. And there's a good three or four-tenths gap back to us. So, we have a lot of work to do.

"Ferrari are very quick here. And Mercedes will be quick with these track conditions. It's very 'slidey' out there. We perform well on the higher grip circuits. We're finding it difficult, but we'll work hard tonight."

Piastri said he had a "decent day" but added that it was "hard to know at the moment" where McLaren were as the track was "evolving" so much.

Along with many other drivers, he noted that the circuit conditions were dirty and slippery, particularly early in the day.

"Ferrari look strong and Red Bull are quick," he said. "But our long runs look competitive."

A.Aguiar--PC