Oscar Piastri carrying McLaren’s hopes as Lando Norris endures qualifying disaster at Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Oscar Piastri could have laughed in Baku with an ironic smile on his face.

The man who was told in no uncertain terms by his McLaren team this week that he will play second fiddle to Lando Norris for the rest of the season can only have sensed the irony that he will be first fiddle on Sunday.

That’s because after a week at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in which the paddock was consumed by rumours that McLaren would be ploughing its resources into Norris at the expense of his Australian team-mate, things went terribly wrong for the team in Saturday’s qualifying at Papaya.

Lead driver Norris had a disastrous day, failing to finish the first part of qualifying after unfortunately being hampered by the yellow flag of the slow Alpine of Esteban Ocon.

Piastri, on the other hand, produced a spectacular final lap in Q3, driving dangerously close to the wall on the street circuit but still setting a time bettered only by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who is so fond of the circuit that he took pole position for the fourth time in a row.

While championship contender Norris will start 16th on the grid, Piastri will take all McLaren hopes from the front row – undoubtedly with no team order in sight.

So he was advised nothing to stop him from getting the green light to go for the win on Sunday.

“Absolutely,” beamed the Melbourne man.

Piastri was told in no uncertain terms by his McLaren team this week that he will play second fiddle to Lando Norris for the rest of the season

In any case, the 23-year-old Piastri has a golden opportunity to show what he can do again, without having to worry about supporting Norris, who will do well on the exciting circuit and score a lot of points.

He is 62 points behind leader and champion Max Verstappen, who starts sixth in his Red Bull and has a great chance to extend that lead.

But Piastri, who is fourth in the standings, certainly does not rule out adding a second victory to his laurels, after taking his first in Hungary. McLaren’s team orders worked in his favour and Norris had let him drive for the win.

The Englishman eventually agreed – under great pressure.

Asked if he thought his McLaren was quick enough to take victory on Sunday, Piastri shrugged: ‘I think so, given the way we’ve started, but it’s going to be really difficult to stay here.

McLaren star Lando Norris suffers horror qualifying and is eliminated in Q1

‘I’m confident our car will be fast, but I think there are at least seven other cars on the track that are certainly not slower.

‘Throughout the whole training it seemed very exciting between us, Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull.’

He said of his final qualifying lap: ‘It was a bit sloppy.

‘I got a little bit closer to the walls – a little bit too close – but I just tried to get the most out of it. This track rewards dedication and I felt really good all the way. I’m really happy with P2, I think it’s the best I could have hoped for today.’