New Lando Norris pit stop analysis emerges with costly lost podium claim

Lando Norris could have challenged Carlos Sainz for the podium were it not for his slow pit stop on lap 37 of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix , which dropped him behind Charles Leclerc and into a DRS train.

On a day when championship leader Oscar Piastri crashed out on the opening lap in an uncharacteristic error for the Australian driver, Norris wasn’t able to capitalise on his teammate’s mistake.

Could Lando Norris have chased down Carlos Sainz in Baku?

Lining up seventh on the grid, he wasn’t able to make gains on his rivals despite running a long first stint to get the overcut on those ahead. And it came down to a slow pit stop, his second in as many races.

Although Norris and Piastri are tied on the fastest pit stop time of F1 2025, 1.94s, the Briton has lost time and positions in the last two races through tardy stops.

In Monza, his pit crew recorded a 5.9s pit stop due to an issue with tightening the wheel nut on Norris’ front-left tyre.

That was four seconds slower than Piastri’s stop, and resulted in Norris losing second place to his teammate and McLaren triggering a controversial swap.

One race later in Baku, Norris was again involved in a slow stop, this time sitting stationary for four seconds as his mechanics struggled to tighten the nut on his front-right wheel.

“The seconds there were so critical because he would have cleared that battle,” declared Sky F1 pundit Karun Chandhok. “That’s massively frustrating for Lando Norris and McLaren.

“It’s the front-right gun which struggled to tighten up the wheel nut.

“It really hasn’t worked for Lando with his slow stop – he would have cleared this whole pack of cars.”

He rejoined in eighth place, and while he was able to pass the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, Norris finished the race stuck in a DRS train behind Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson and the Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda.

Key talking points from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix

👉 Azerbaijan GP conclusions: Piastri SOS, Lando’s big problem, Max’s post-Horner wavelength

👉 Oscar Piastri’s championship fall cushioned by Lando Norris

Had it not been for that slow pit stop, he could have, according to former Aston Martin strategist Bernie Collins, fought Sainz for the final podium position.

“When I looked quickly at the data we had on the pit wall,” she said, “[he] should have come out ahead of Leclerc and Tsunoda. Then he missed the opportunity to undercut Lawson.

“So actually, even without any other overtakes, he should have been P5 without that slow pit stop. So it was very costly.

“He would have had a much better chance at [Kimi] Antonelli and Sainz if he had been ahead of Lawson.

“So I think McLaren are going to look at that pit stop and think it was very, very detrimental to their day. It’s also the second race in a row they have had a slow pit stop.

“That’s something they need to get on top of.”

But despite Collins’ assessment that the slow pit stop cost Norris several positions, McLaren team principal Stella downplayed the glitch.

“We still have to check whether, even with the fastest pit stop, we could have been ahead or not of a Ferrari,” Stella told the media in Baku. “We managed to overtake and regain this position, which was good. It was important for the points and for Lando’s championship.

“But definitely in terms of pit stops, that’s an area in which we have already concentrated our efforts.

“But as a matter of fact, we need to keep working because there’s some important performance that is available through pit stops.

“We have seen that the racing, if anything, is getting tighter and tighter, so the impact of a pit stop now gets more and more important.”

The Italian told Sky Deutschland that McLaren will look into the pit stops issues as something the team needs to get right.

“I’ll have to review,” he said. “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 pit stop side.”

Scoring six points in Baku, Norris is 25 behind Piastri in the Drivers’ standings with seven race weekends remaining.

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