McLaren had themselves a proper mixed bag at Baku this afternoon. Oscar Piastri managed to nail third on the grid, though it was absolutely heartbreaking to miss out on the front row by literally one thousandth of a second. Meanwhile, Lando Norris ended up fifth after things didn't quite click for him in the final run. The new upgrades they brought this weekend have done their job, but honestly, the tight, bumpy characteristics of the Baku City Circuit just haven't suited the MCL40 the way the team might've hoped.

Oscar put in the work across qualifying to earn his spot on the second row, showing genuine pace throughout. Lando had every chance to challenge for second and third in Q3, but a small lock-up on his final attempt meant he had to abandon the lap and couldn't improve his time. It's one of those situations where you're left wondering what might've been. The data was pretty clear though, McLaren were looking like the fourth and fifth quickest cars overall on the day, though plenty was going on around them with other drivers having problems.

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The build-up was complicated enough, with a gusting wind making Friday feel unpredictable. Free Practice 3 gave the team some useful info, and they managed to check overnight updates to the floorboards that seemed to do the trick. Throughout qualifying, both drivers came in with five sets of fresh Soft tyres and smartly saved one set for the race. The Soft was performing well enough over multiple laps to make this strategy work.

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Q1 went fairly smoothly for McLaren. Oscar banged in his best lap on his first push, while Lando made his move on lap three, coming through seventh and eighth respectively. Lando had a proper scare mid-session when he spotted sparks and reported something dodgy with the front left, but the data didn't back it up and he showed serious nerve to deliver the fastest first sector straight after. Once they checked the car physically, everything looked fine.

Q2 saw McLaren take a different tack with two shorter runs instead of long efforts. They let their first attempts do the work to get through, then went back out on used Softs to see if the track had improved without burning through new rubber. Oscar progressed in fourth, Lando in sixth. By Q3, it was going to be tight, and both drivers lined up at the end of pit lane with solid first runs that had them sitting third and fourth before things fell apart on the final attempts.

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Looking forward to the race tomorrow, McLaren reckon they'll be scrapping with Red Bull and Ferrari for podium spots, with Mercedes likely leading the way. Baku's known for chaos, with tyre wear, safety cars, and all sorts of drama creating chances throughout the afternoon. The team's game plan is straightforward: stay in the fight, push for the podium, and be ready when opportunities come knocking.

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