The Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend is underway… and FP1 wasn't exactly the start we were hoping for from our Papaya Boys. Oscar Piastri finishes P6. Lando Norris finishes P14. Both McLarens lost valuable track time, and neither driver had the smooth opening session they would've wanted but it's only FP1. So let's talk about what happened and whether we should actually be worried.
Oscar Piastri — P6
Let's start with Oscar.
P6 — 1:46.398
Oscar finished just over a second behind George Russell's fastest time and considering how disrupted his session was? P6 isn't terrible. Oscar reported vibrations early in FP1, and McLaren spent time working on his car. That meant he only completed 17 laps during the session. So we didn't get the cleanest look at what Oscar or the McLaren could really do. The positive? Even with the lost running, Oscar still put himself inside the top six. There's definitely more to come.
Lando Norris — P14
For Lando? Things were much more difficult.
P14 — 1:46.981
That's 1.594 seconds away from Russell's fastest lap. Definitely not where we want to see Lando but again… There's more to the story than simply looking at P14. Lando spent a significant amount of the session in the garage while McLaren worked on an issue with his car. He completed only 14 laps. So while everyone else was learning the circuit, improving their setups and building confidence…Lando was losing valuable track time. Not ideal.
McLaren Had Problems
This was probably the biggest story for the Papaya Boys. McLaren didn't get the clean FP1 they needed. Both cars were affected by problems. Both drivers lost running and with Baku being such an unusual circuit, every lap matters. You've got incredibly slow corners. That massive straight. The narrow Castle section and walls everywhere. Drivers need time to build confidence. McLaren spent too much of FP1 working on the cars instead.
Should We Be Worried?
Right now? I'm not panicking. It's FP1. We've still got plenty of running ahead of us but there's definitely work to do. Oscar being P6 isn't particularly concerning. Lando being P14 looks worse, but considering how much track time he lost, I'm not reading too much into it yet. What matters is what happens next. If both McLarens get a clean FP2 and they're still a long way away from the front? Then maybe we start asking some bigger questions but after one disrupted practice session? No panic yet.
Papaya Boys FP1 Results
So our two McLarens finish:
Oscar Piastri — P6 — 1:46.398
Lando Norris — P14 — 1:46.981
Oscar finishes 0.583 seconds ahead of Lando and both drivers have plenty of room for improvement.
Remember Madrid…
We've literally just seen why we shouldn't overreact to practice sessions. Madrid wasn't exactly straightforward for Lando. He missed almost all of FP2 because of a gearbox problem. Then qualifying arrived…POLE POSITION. So if there's one thing we've learned recently, it's that practice doesn't always tell us the full story. Could the same thing happen again in Baku? Maybe but McLaren need to get on top of these problems quickly.
What I Want to See in FP2
For me, the biggest priority is simple: TRACK TIME. I want both Papaya Boys out there completing laps. No long periods sitting in the garage. No reliability problems. Just clean running. Then we can properly judge where McLaren stand. I especially want to see what Lando can do with a full session. P14 looks bad on paper but we haven't really seen his true pace yet. Oscar already showed enough to get into P6 despite his disrupted session. If McLaren can clean everything up? Maybe both cars can move much closer to the front.
Final Thoughts
Not the FP1 we wanted but definitely not a disaster either. Oscar manages P6 despite losing track time. Lando finishes P14 after an even more disrupted session. McLaren have problems to solve but there's a long way to go and if Madrid taught us anything… Never write the Papaya Boys off after practice. FP2 is going to tell us much more. Can Lando fight back? Can Oscar break into the top five? can McLaren close the gap to Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari? We'll find out.
On the Pitwall — Lights out. More to talk about.
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