McLaren must fix one problem internally to give Lando Norris any hope of catching Oscar Piastri

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Lando Norris has narrowed the margin further to Oscar Piastri at the top of the standings after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. It marked McLaren’s worst weekend of the season.

The Woking outfit have been utterly dominant in 2025, with eight wins, 12 pole positions and 27 podiums between Norris and Piastri thus far. But their authority over the grid came to a grinding halt at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Multiple drivers struggled for grip in qualifying as several red flags stopped proceedings. Piastri crashed out in Q3, while Norris could only manage seventh, over a second down on polesitter Max Verstappen.

Things did not improve in the race for the championship leader as Piastri found the barriers on the opening lap, bringing out the safety car. It gave Norris the chance to close the gap to his teammate, but he struggled to make progress in Baku.

The twisty nature of the circuit, combined with the dirty air from the cars in front, prevented Norris from making up ground beyond P7. The McLaren star was also not helped by another slow pit stop that hampered his charge.

McLaren simply must fix their problems with pit stops to give Lando Norris any chance of battling Oscar Piastri

Norris was challenging with Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda for fifth when he came into the pits. But the front right wheel gun jammed, leaving him with a four-second stop.

It marks the second race in a row where the Brit has suffered issues in the pit box, after his left front wheel gun had the same problem in Monza. Subsequently, Norris lost position to Piastri, but he gained it back after McLaren controversially deployed team orders.

The Brit gained two points on his teammate at Monza and a further six in Baku after Piastri’s DNF. However, the gap could be much smaller if McLaren had perfected their pit stops, as Norris arguably lost out on P5 at the Azerbaijan GP.

People in the paddock think McLaren are favouring Norris over Piastri, which seemed to be the case in Monza with their team orders. However, in Baku, the 25-year-old lost points due to the team’s error, which was repeated from the Italian GP.

Norris may be 25 points behind Piastri with seven races to go, but Max Verstappen is beginning to pile on the pressure with two consecutive wins. McLaren have dropped significant points in the last two events, with pit stops being a critical problem that needs addressing.

READ MORE: McLaren driver Lando Norris’ life outside F1 from parents to celebration

Andrea Stella has work to do as he plans to assess McLaren’s pit stop woes

McLaren know that they have work to do after their latest blunder in Baku. Team principal Andrea Stella says he will assess the problem with the pit box.

He said via Sky Germany: “I’ll have to review. I think there was an issue on the front right, I’ll have to review and assess, certainly there’s a few things to polish also on the pitstop side.”

Helmut Marko sees Piastri as the ‘favourite’ for the title over Norris, but the Aussie’s retirement in Baku puts him under more pressure to hold on to his advantage. His teammate has the chance to dethrone him for the title, but pit stop errors will only get in his way.

More worryingly, Verstappen’s current form could cause ‘tension’ at McLaren if he continues to grab wins. Now 69 points behind Piastri, the Woking outfit fear that the Dutchman could influence the title battle; it highlights further the improvements that they must make.