Lando Norris not expecting ‘magical’ Azerbaijan GP result after qualifying 17th

Lando Norris does not expect a “magical” Azerbaijan Grand Prix result after the McLaren driver qualified 17th in a major blow to his title hopes.

The 24-year-old was caught out by yellow flags down the long final straight, backing off and being unable to improve his time, meaning he was knocked out of Q1.

Norris arrived in the Land of Fire bidding to turn up the heat on championship leader Max Verstappen, having taken 16 points out of the three-time world champion’s title lead across the last two races.

But the Briton will start 11 places behind his championship rival as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who harbours distant title hopes of his own, claimed pole in Baku for the fourth year in a row.

Simply unbeatable today