McLaren leaves Suzuka encouraged but Andrea Stella stresses chassis improvements. McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella reflects on a strong Japanese GP.

The Papaya return

The Japanese Grand Prix finally delivered a positive result for McLaren, a team that had struggled in the opening rounds of the season in Australia and particularly in China, where both Woking drivers did not even start the race. The biggest highlight at Suzuka came from Oscar Piastri, who could have even contended for victory if it hadn’t been for the untimely deployment of the Safety Car. The Australian still crossed the finish line in an impressive second place.

A solid performance was also delivered by reigning world champion Lando Norris, who finished fifth after a strong late-race battle with Lewis Hamilton. This was the final act of a race that had not initially gone in the Briton’s favor due to an unsuccessful undercut attempt.

Driver performances

This double result allowed Team Principal Andrea Stella to comment with pride and satisfaction on the performance of both drivers: “It was a good weekend that allows us to leave Suzuka encouraged,” said the Umbrian manager. “The pace we showed in qualifying was confirmed in the race, and we were genuinely able to battle with Ferrari and, at times, with Mercedes. Oscar drove a superb race after an excellent start, maintaining a strong rhythm and fully deserving the podium. Even though he missed the first two Grands Prix, he is showing the best version of himself since starting in Formula 1: calm, resilient, and an inspiration for the entire team. Lando brought home important points despite heavily disrupted practice sessions, during which he barely managed two consecutive laps before the race. Our execution in the race, the starts, the strategy, and the way we utilized the power unit were solid.”

What needs to improve?

While the weekend satisfied Stella and the McLaren team, Woking is still focused on improving one key aspect of the car ahead of the next race in Miami in early May. “Although this result is encouraging, our goal remains clear: we need to improve the fundamental performance of our chassis. The characteristics of this circuit and the strong performance of our power unit played in our favor, but we know that our rivals still have an advantage in cornering grip. We know we need a few more tenths from the chassis to be able to consistently fight for victories. It is now our responsibility to provide both Oscar and Lando with a car capable of consistently competing for wins, and we are focused on introducing the necessary upgrades in the upcoming races to achieve this objective.”