Lando Norris ended the Japanese GP exactly where he started with his McLaren. Second place on the grid and runner-up confirmed under the chequered flag. A result that allows the Briton to retain the lead in the drivers’ championship. There would be several reasons to be satisfied. But the advantage over Max Verstappen is only one point, which is quite incredible considering the superiority shown by the McLaren MCL39 at the start of this season.
At Suzuka, Norris never really posed a serious threat to Max in the lead. It’s true that the Japanese circuit, though a joy to drive, lacks real overtaking opportunities. Added to that, it was a one-stop race where tyre wear was significantly lower than expected, making the on-track spectacle rather dull.
“I think everything was decided yesterday,” Lando Norris said in the interview right after crossing the finish line. “Max had a good race today, no mistakes. Our pace was too similar today to aim for anything more. It was a long race where I pushed hard: we gave everything from start to finish, pushing to the limit. So it was a tough race, and I couldn’t have done more. We had nothing special to overtake Max. They were fast and made no mistakes, so they deserved the win.”
The only real moment when Norris tried to get the better of Max Verstappen came during the pit stop. The two entered the pit lane at the same time, and the papaya team’s mechanics were lightning fast, allowing Lando to leave his pit box almost side-by-side with Max, just slightly behind. But on pit exit, there was room for only one car, and so the Briton clipped the grass and had to lift off and slot in behind.
Immediately after the incident, Lando Norris accused Max on the radio of squeezing him. In the post-race interview, he partly backtracked: “That’s racing. He was ahead, he squeezed me a bit on the outside and Max is the last person in the world I’d expect to leave space. In any case, nothing unfair, so I have nothing to add.”
In a race where overtaking proved very difficult, adopting the right strategy could have been crucial to gaining positions on track. In this regard, the one adopted by McLaren with Norris raises many questions. Choosing to pit on the same lap as Max Verstappen virtually eliminated any chance of gaining the position and going for the win.
Even more so considering that McLaren was clearly the best car on track today in Japan, and tyre degradation was very low. So trying to extend the first stint and gamble on fresher tyres at the end of the race to attack was hardly an unthinkable move.
Moreover, car #4 probably wasn’t even the fastest MCL39 today. This was shown by Oscar Piastri’s performance in the closing stages, with the Australian clearly the fastest driver on track and quickly getting right behind his teammate. Once past Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri could likely have mounted a more serious challenge against Max Verstappen.
But once again, somewhat inexplicably, McLaren opted to leave things as they were and not swap positions. Lando Norris’s race was therefore far from perfect, as he himself admitted: “Overall, it was a great weekend. We didn’t get the position we wanted because we want to fight for victory every weekend.”
“But Max in particular improved over the course of the weekend. They’re fast, they’re catching up. We’ve made improvements, but we were missing something as a team this weekend. So we still need to work. Anyway, it’s not bad to finish second on a weekend that wasn’t perfect,” concluded the championship leader.
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