Lando Norris #1 — P6
Oscar Piastri #81 — P8
After a messy FP1 where both McLarens lost valuable track time, FP2 finally gave us a better look at where the MCL40 stands. There are positives but there's also one pretty big problem…McLaren are still a LONG way from the fastest time.
Lando Norris — P6
Let's start with Lando. After finishing down in P14 during FP1, he bounced back to take:
P6 — 1:44.831
That's definitely an improvement. Lando completed 22 laps and finally got some proper running after the problems McLaren experienced earlier in the day but despite finishing P6, he was still 1.484 seconds behind George Russell's fastest time. That's a significant gap. There is some encouragement, though. Lando backed out of a lap that appeared capable of improving his time. So P6 might not show absolutely everything that was available from the car. Still…McLaren have work to do.
Oscar Piastri — P8
Oscar finished two positions behind Lando.
P8 — 1:44.857
Look at the difference between the two Papaya Boys:
Lando — 1:44.831
Oscar — 1:44.857
Just…0.026 SECONDS! That's basically nothing. Oscar also completed 22 laps, giving McLaren plenty more information to work with after his disrupted FP1 and there was another positive. Oscar felt there were encouraging signs in McLaren's long-run pace. That could become very important when we get to the race.
THE CABLE TIES
We need to talk about this.McLaren had floorboard issues during FP1 and when FP2 arrived? The team were still using a makeshift solution involving… PLASTIC CABLE TIES. Formula 1. One of the most technologically advanced sports on the planet. Millions spent developing these cars. Hundreds of engineers and sometimes? You just need some cable ties. To be fair, they did the job. Both Lando and Oscar managed 22 laps in FP2, giving McLaren far more useful running than they'd managed earlier.
1.5 SECONDS OFF
Now for the worrying part.
George Russell topped FP2 with:
1:43.347
Lando:
1:44.831
Oscar:
1:44.857
That puts Lando 1.484 seconds behind. Oscar was 1.510 seconds behind. That's a lot. Russell himself suggested the race pace between Mercedes, McLaren and Red Bull looked much closer than the headline FP2 gaps suggested, while Oscar also felt McLaren's longer runs showed promise. So maybe the timing screen isn't telling us the whole story but over one lap? McLaren clearly needed to find more performance.
LANDO KNOWS THERE'S WORK TO DO
Lando wasn't hiding his disappointment after FP2. The car itself didn't feel terrible, but McLaren appeared to be losing performance around Baku's slow-speed sections and enormous straight. That's not exactly ideal when those are two massive characteristics of this circuit. McLaren therefore had a lot of data to study before FP3. The challenge was figuring out how to find more speed without making the car worse somewhere else.
PAPAYA BOYS FP2 RESULTS
So our final McLaren results:
Lando Norris #1 — P6 — 1:44.831
Oscar Piastri #81 — P8 — 1:44.857
Only 0.026 seconds separate them. That's ridiculously close but the bigger number is the gap to Russell. Around 1.5 seconds. That's what McLaren needed to work on overnight.
BETTER THAN FP1
There is one obvious positive. FP2 was much cleaner than FP1.
Lando went:
P14 ➡️ P6
Oscar went:
P6 ➡️ P8
Oscar dropped two positions on the timing screen, but both drivers got much more useful running completed.That's important. McLaren now had actual data to analyse instead of spending half the evening wondering what might have happened without the FP1 problems.
WHAT DID McLAREN NEED FOR FP3?
Simple.Close the gap. I wasn't expecting McLaren to suddenly find 1.5 seconds overnight and dominate FP3 but I wanted to see progress. Get Lando and Oscar closer to Mercedes. Get them into the fight with Red Bull and Ferrari and most importantly? Give both drivers a car they can trust heading into qualifying. Because around Baku…Confidence is everything. One tiny mistake through the Castle section and your qualifying session can be over.
FINAL THOUGHTS
FP2 was a step forward. Not a massive one but a step.Lando recovers from P14 to P6. Oscar finishes P8 and just 0.026 seconds separate the Papaya Boys. McLaren's long-run pace offered some encouragement, but the one-lap deficit was impossible to ignore. Around 1.5 seconds to P1. That's a lot of time to find. So the question heading into FP3 was simple: Could McLaren close the gap? Could Lando get into the top five? Could Oscar challenge further forward? could the Papaya Boys put themselves into the qualifying fight? Baku was only getting started. On the Pitwall — Lights out. More to talk about.
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