Lando Norris said a crash in Friday practice at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix was “costly” after Lewis Hamilton led Charles Leclerc to a Ferrari one-two.
Norris lost control at Turn Four at the start of his qualifying simulation run, breaking his left rear suspension.
The Briton, 31 points behind team-mate Oscar Piastri in the championship with eight races remaining, was unable to run again after limping back to the pits, and ended up 10th in the classification.
It meant Norris missed his high-fuel run late in the session, when drivers get a feel for their cars in race trim.
“A costly one,” Norris said. “Especially here. It was feeling good until then. I’d rather have this and push and find the limits than not push at all. I have to push and find the limit. Annoying.
“I would have liked to get some high fuel laps in especially on these tyres, a softer compound compared to last year.”
Piastri completed a messy session for McLaren, who are poised to clinch the constructors’ title this weekend if they outscore Ferrari by nine points.
Piastri was 12th fastest following his own brush with the wall, in which he did not damage his car.
Piastri missed some running in the first session when his car suffered an engine problem on his first lap out of the pits. A 20-minute red-flag period to repair a damaged kerb limited the impact of that on the Australian.
“A bit tricky,” Piastri said. “A bit up and down. The pace is there, just not the easiest to get the most out of it. We tried a few things in P2. We will look back and see what we can change for tomorrow. It is going to be different with tyre choices and stuff like that.”
Piastri was referencing the decision by tyre supplier Pirelli to take its three softest compounds to this weekend for only the third time this year. At both previous races when this has been the case, the pace difference between the soft and medium tyres has been marginal.
Norris said: “The track’s very different to last year and it’s a softer compound we don’t use that often – Monaco, Imola. I am behind on the learnings.
“A scrappy session from my side and Oscar’s side. He seemed to be struggling a little bit with the car as well, we will see what we can make up tomorrow.
“Ferrari were easily the quickest here last year even though Oscar won. Ferrari will be quick. Red Bull are going to be quick. They are never good on Friday. They go to sleep and then they wake up and they are quick again.”
Hamilton benefited from a slipstream from Leclerc at the start of his lap to beat his team-mate by 0.074 seconds.
The seven-time champion told his engineer there were “some good learnings there”, an apparent reference to the benefit of the tow, and Ferrari are considering employing it to gain grid positions in qualifying on Saturday.
Leclerc has been on pole position for the last four races in Baku, where his excellence on street circuits and in qualifying is at its most pronounced.
McLaren’s raw pace was not seen because of the errors made by both drivers on what should have been their fastest laps.
But on the longer, race-simulation runs later in the session, Piastri was fast, so the championship leaders can be expected to remain the team to beat over the weekend.
Azerbaijan Grand Prix
19-21 September, with race from 12:00 BST on 21 September
Baku
Live commentary on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra and Sports Extra 2; live text updates on BBC Sport website and app
Mercedes drivers George Russell and Kimi Antonelli were third and fourth fastest, ahead of Haas’ Oliver Bearman, two licence points short of a one-race ban, and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
Verstappen, winner of the last race in Italy, was 0.609secs off the pace but guardedly optimistic about the weekend ahead.
The four-time champion said: “What was positive for us was the car felt quite good so it definitely seems like we found a stable balance, and that is what we need.
“This track is very particular in its layout. Everything needs to come together to try to produce a good lap.
“The long run felt OK. It is always going to be slippery around here. Tough on the tyres with the softer compounds but it seemed not too bad.
“It seems like Ferrari are really on it. I do expect a few teams to be quite close, and then it all comes down to driving a perfect lap or getting your tyres in, which is always difficult around here. And then with such a long straight if you get lucky with a little bit of a tow you gain 0.2secs easily and that can also make quite a big difference.”
Russell was another to have a scare, with a wild oversteer moment out of Turn 12, the exit of the section around Baku’s medieval castle. The Mercedes hit the barrier but the car was undamaged.
Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson, the second Haas of Esteban Ocon, Williams’ Alex Albon and Norris completed the top 10.
