Lando Norris slams 'unfair' yellow flag that derailed Baku GP performance
Red Bull Racing/Red Bull Content Pool
Azerbaijan GP: McLaren's Lando Norris decries the 'unfair' yellow flag that shattered his race ambitions, calling it a frustrating turn of events for his weekend overall.
Lando Norris has expressed frustration over an "unfair" yellow flag during qualifying, which he believes ruined his Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend and cost him vital points in his title battle with Max Verstappen.
The McLaren driver staged an impressive recovery, finishing fourth after starting 15th on the grid in Baku. However, he lamented the missed opportunity, especially since his teammate Oscar Piastri clinched victory from second on the grid.
Norris was eliminated in the first session of qualifying when a yellow flag in the final sector forced him to abort a lap that would have comfortably secured his progression to Q2. The yellow flag was displayed due to Esteban Ocon's Alpine, which was moving slowly through the high-speed chicane at Turns 18 and 19 after sustaining damage from a collision with the wall earlier in the lap.
Typically, a white flag is displayed for a slow-moving car, which does not require oncoming drivers to lift off the throttle. However, marshals at the scene deemed a yellow flag more appropriate, compelling Norris to abandon his lap.
"It wasn't fair," Norris said. "You don't have to be a scientist to work that out.
"It's not for me to decide, it's not for me to say. But it was unfair and for it to ruin my whole weekend ... I know I got a fourth today, and that's not bad, but it could have been better.
"Oscar showed what was possible today. It was unfair. There was no yellow the whole lap and they put a yellow out just as I came past."
Norris asserted that his qualifying lap would have comfortably placed him in Q2, even with a slight mistake at Turn 16 where he slid wide on the kerb.
"Did I go off the track just before it? Yes. Would I have still easily got into the top 15? Yes.
"I know there's a lot of people that thought it would have ruined my lap, but even with my off track, I only lost a couple of tenths and I still would have easily been in.
"People can say what they want, and I find a lot of it funny, but this was out of my control and it was something that was unfair."
Despite the setback, Norris managed to finish ahead of Verstappen and clock the fastest lap, reducing the deficit in the drivers' standings to the Red Bull driver to 59 points with seven races remaining.
"It cost me a good amount of points in the championship today and kind of ruined my weekend," Norris added.
"So it's disappointing, especially because of how good the car was today. I'm a guy that was thinking of what could have been, not how we did today necessarily. But I am very happy with today's performance."
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