PA Media/dpa
Baku
Lando Norris admitted his weekend worked out better than he could have expected after he produced a superb comeback drive in Azerbaijan to further cut Max Verstappen’s F1 championship lead.
The Briton endured a nightmare qualifying session, being undone by yellow flags and putting his McLaren only 17th on the grid.
He started two places higher, thanks to Pierre Gasly and Lewis Hamilton being demoted, and marched through the field on a long first stint before keeping title rival Verstappen at bay.
Having eventually pitted, Norris then reeled Verstappen in over the closing laps before easing past the Red Bull.
Norris finished fourth, a place above Verstappen, after a dramatic late crash eliminated both Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz - with McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri securing a thrilling race win.
Having been faced with the task of limiting the damage, starting nine places below the championship leader, Norris was delighted to cut the gap - which now stands at 59 points - by three.
"I don’t think we could have asked for a lot more today,” Norris said.
"It was definitely better than we were all expecting before today. A great result to be ahead of Max just merit from pace and strategy.
"I am a little bit surprised. When you start 15th and he started sixth, you don’t expect to beat him.
"I was about 20-22 seconds behind in real terms (after Verstappen pitted). To create a gap ahead of him and box and then overtake him, I probably was not expecting to do such a thing.
"I could defend against Max. I knew his tyres were getting to a point where they were too hot and he could not attack me.
"So I played the game well.” Norris has now taken 19 points out of Verstappen’s lead across the last three races but admitted his frustration at starting so far back due to what he viewed as an "unfair” yellow flag in qualifying.
The marshals waved the yellow flags due to a slow-moving Esteban Ocon on the exit of the fast final turn.
"It’s not for me to decide, but it wasn’t fair,” he added. "And for it to have ruined my whole weekend - I know I got a fourth today, which is not bad, but it could have been better.”
McLaren have moved into the lead of the constructors’ championship, now standing 20 points clear, as Piastri took the win as Perez crashed out when on course for the podium.