McLaren get ready to seize initiative in constructors’ race

BAKU – McLaren can go top of the Formula One constructors’ standings in Azerbaijan this weekend, on a Baku street circuit that has favoured champions and leaders Red Bull more than any team in the past.

The British-based team start the final long-haul phase of the season only eight points behind faltering rivals, whom they have outscored by more than that margin in all of their last five races.

Lando Norris, 62 points behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in the drivers’ battle, has yet to stand on the podium in Baku while teammate Oscar Piastri, 106 off the lead, finished 11th as a rookie last season.

However, this time could be different, with McLaren’s upgraded car looking quick everywhere.

The big question will be whether team orders will be applied, should the occasion arise, to boost Norris’ chances after a golden opportunity was missed in Monza the last time.

“Our goal is clear. I have every faith in the team to keep working and improving,” said the Briton in general, without addressing that particular scenario.

“Now with both championships on the table, we’re more determined than ever. I’m proud of the team and can’t wait to see what we can do this weekend.”

Once-dominant triple champion Verstappen is on a six-race losing streak and finished only sixth in the most recent round in Italy, won by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

The Dutchman and Red Bull’s last victory, his 61st, came at the Spanish Grand Prix in June while teammate Sergio Perez last won on the streets of Baku, claiming his sixth career triumph and second in Azerbaijan in the 2023 race.

Verstappen won on the shores of the Caspian Sea in 2022, but Perez has the better record there and is the only driver to have triumphed twice.

“Monza was a tough race and it is our priority to get our form back to where it needs to be,” said Verstappen, who has spent time in the factory simulator ahead of the first leg of a double-header with Singapore.

“The team has been working hard to improve the issues we have been seeing with the car from the past few races.”

In Monza, Verstappen had

described his car as an undriveable monster.

While Red Bull have won the last three races in Baku, Leclerc is chasing his fourth successive Azerbaijan GP pole position with his team only 39 points behind Red Bull with eight rounds remaining.

The Ferrari driver, and teammate Carlos Sainz, could be contenders for victory at a tricky circuit that combines fast slipstreaming on the straights with tricky, twisty turns through the old town.

“We have usually been quite competitive here and it is also one of Charles’ favourites. We are on a high following the win in Monza and we are determined to maintain this run of form,” said team boss Fred Vasseur.

“We have to focus on doing a good job every weekend and, if something has to come to us, it will come.”

Mercedes also have reasons to be optimistic, despite difficult recent races in the Netherlands and Italy, as the only team other than Red Bull to have won in Baku.

“We head to Baku aiming for a better performance than we showed in Zandvoort and Monza,” said boss Toto Wolff.

“We have the opportunity to show we have done the necessary learning and made improvements both for this weekend in Azerbaijan and the following week in Singapore.”

Kevin Magnussen will be absent from the starting grid, with the Haas driver triggering a one-race ban for accumulated penalty points.

Ferrari reserve Oliver Bearman, who will be taking the Dane’s place next season, stands in – for the second time this season after replacing an appendicitis-stricken Sainz at Ferrari in Melbourne. REUTERS, AFP