Lando Norris damages McLaren preparations with wall smack in practice

Lando Norris’ preparations for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix have taken a hit, with the McLaren driver hitting the barriers during second practice.

Having topped the times in Friday’s opening practice session at the Baku City Circuit, Norris whacked the barriers on a push lap during the FP2 session.

Lando Norris hits the barriers in FP2

Exactly halfway through the second practice session, Norris had embarked upon a flying lap on used soft tyres when he hit the barriers at Turn 3.

The British driver, aiming to close down the points gap to Oscar Piastri in the Drivers’ Championship, smacked the barrier with his left-rear wheel as the back of the car stepped out on him upon throttle application.

The hit was severe enough to break his suspension, knocking the wheel askew on the axle, meaning his car immediately began crabbing down the circuit.

“I’m in the wall. Tyre’s gone,” he radioed in as he slowed his car and began the slow drive back to the pits.

He was able to make it back to the pits, where McLaren began looking at it and evaluating the repair job – his car was quickly up on stands and in a state of disassembly, meaning a rejoin in the session is unlikely.

The incident means Norris won’t be able to get some of his long-run preparations completed during this session, potentially offering Piastri a small advantage for the rest of the weekend.

Just moments later, Piastri also smacked the barriers as his right-hand side touched the tyre barriers exiting Turn 15. While there was clear evidence of paint and scuff damage on his car as he backed off and returned to the pits, McLaren was happy to release him back out onto the track.

Aside from the two McLaren drivers, Charles Leclerc and Lance Stroll have also brushed the barriers but managed to continue, with Leclerc topping the times in the first half of the session.

Now it’s Lando Norris’ turn to bash the barriers 💥

It’s a hefty hit and he’s got damage #F1 #AzerbaijanGP pic.twitter.com/ZM354nuX6a

— Formula 1 (@F1) September 19, 2025

Norris’ mistake is minor in isolation, and pales into insignificance compared to high-profile errors like his qualifying crash in Saudi Arabia – an error that wrecked his weekend as he qualified way below his expected position on the grid.

Addressing his approach to eradicating mistakes throughout this year, Norris told the media on Friday that he has worked on improving his risk/reward balance.

“I still make these mistakes. I think some of the mistakes I make are maybe not to the same size, like the crash in Saudi Arabia,” he said.

“So it’s not that I don’t make mistakes. I mean, I try and improve in everything that I can, both on the track and off.

“Understanding risk levels and accepting sometimes a half a tenth loss instead of trying to gain half a tenth can be the difference between actually making a mistake by three tenths and having a problem like Saudi.

“I guess my risk balance improved. Also, I think my driving, my ability to understand the car, I was struggling a lot more with the car then than I am now.

“So, yeah, a collection of different things, but all improved because of work behind the scenes.”