What Ted Kravitz noticed about ‘speechless’ Lando Norris in Azerbaijan Grand Prix interview

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Lando Norris’ world championship ambitions suffered an enormous blow on Saturday as he qualified 17th for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Norris was seemingly caught out by a yellow flag at the end of Q1.

Norris and McLaren came into the session with a 100% Q3 record in 2024. The Briton’s ensuing exit is one of the biggest Saturday upsets of the whole season.

He needed to find time on his final run, with the MCL38 not as comfortable on the Baku City Circuit as it has been in recent races. But in the final seconds, the cameras cut to Norris trundling back to the pits.

The 24-year-old had been on pole position for both races following the summer break, and three of the last four overall. He hadn’t started any lower than seventh in the first 16 rounds and had qualified on the front two rows at 13 of the last 14 races.

Teammate Oscar Piastri went on to take second, more than three-tenths adrift of polesitter Charles Leclerc. Championship leader Max Verstappen, who enters the weekend 62 points ahead of Norris, was at least only sixth.

Ted Kravitz ‘feels’ for Lando Norris after Azerbaijan Grand Prix qualifying woes

Ted Kravitz interviewed Norris in the media pen just moments after his stunning elimination. And speaking on Sky Sports F1 afterwards, he shared his observations on his demeanour.

Kravitz said the two-time race-winner was almost ‘speechless’ in the interview as he tried to come to terms with his misfortune. It was the first time he’d failed to progress beyond the first segment of qualifying since Las Vegas 2023.

After seeing what happened to Norris, multiple rivals told their teams that they wanted to be released earlier in Q2 and Q3. They knew that a yellow flag could scupper them if they waited until the clock ticked down.

The tight nature of the circuit always increased the likelihood of incidents. This was clear in practice as Leclerc, Franco Colapinto and Oliver Bearman all hit the wall.

Kravitz said: “I feel so [sorry] for Lando Norris. It was just luck wasn’t it? He was almost speechless, wasn’t he? Just getting the luck of Esteban Ocon’s yellow flag.”

What happened to Lando Norris in Azerbaijan Grand Prix qualifying?

There’s some confusion around the circumstances of Norris’ exit. He may have encountered a yellow flag thanks to a slow-moving Esteban Ocon in the Alpine.

Ocon appeared to be nursing damage at the rear of his car and as he trundled around the lap. Any driver going through a yellow-flag zone is required to slow down under the regulations.

Norris, who ran wide on the exit of the last meaningful corner, aborted his lap. It’s unclear why his race engineer Will Joseph subsequently apologised on the radio.

“There was a panel flashing,” Kravitz’s colleague Karun Chandhok said. “I wonder if the flashing panel meant he didn’t have the use of DRS. It was a scrappy exit.”

The weekend has been dominated by McLaren’s team orders plans after the team vowed to favour Norris to help him close down Verstappen. But depending on how Sunday’s race pans out, he could now find himself fending off Leclerc behind.