Lando Norris believes he now must give it all to have the slightest chance of winning the 2026 Formula 1 world title – hence a driving error in qualifying for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Norris has scored 83 points since McLaren introduced its most substantial upgrade of the season in Hungary, meaning he is now competing with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton for the runner-up spot in the championship.

But one driver still outscored him over that period – runaway leader Kimi Antonelli. As a consequence, Norris is now 106 points adrift of the Mercedes racer, with just nine grands prix remaining.

So in Q3 at a Baku track where McLaren has been struggling, Norris pushed hard, locked up and ended up fifth on the grid – though this was also down to a technical issue which team principal Andrea Stella expects to be fixed today.

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“My last lap, I made a mistake and paid the price,” the Briton admitted. “But I'm at a point in the championship where I kind of have to go for pole or die trying. Of course, I paid the price for pushing too much today, but it is what it is.”

Norris said he was “probably the slowest on the straights” – not quite, but he was 19th-quickest in qualifying, leading only the Aston Martins and Nico Hulkenberg’s Audi – and reckoned he might end up a ‘sitting duck’ on Baku’s long straights in Saturday’s race.

“Very exciting to look forward to that,” a journalist suggested with concealed sarcasm if any, to which Norris unsurprisingly responded: “Well, for you guys, yeah. For me, not so much.”

Lando Norris, McLaren

Photo by: Alex Pantling - Formula 1

As the reigning world champion, Norris has explained he is now free of the pressure which, at times, burdened him earlier in his career.

“I'm able to question myself less, because I have the reassurance inside that I can achieve what I want to achieve,” he said on Wednesday in Baku.

“It's still pressure; everyone's here because they expect me to do good things and to perform every weekend, as you should and as the whole team should. I've always been the person that has to prove things to myself. I don't care what other people can prove to me, I prefer that I can do it.

“I always found it hard to believe I'll be able to win a race in Formula 1, until I won a race in Formula 1. I always found it hard to believe I could have what it takes to win a world championship, until I won the world championship.

“Now it's more that deep down I have that reassurance within myself. I have confidence and I have belief in myself, something I wish I had previously. But it's just not how I'm wired or how I work necessarily. It's not a pressure thing, it's more a confidence in ability.”

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- The Motorsport.com Team