The reigning world champion team has returned to the front of the grid at the Japanese Grand Prix, thanks to an improved understanding of the Mercedes power unit and favorable conditions on the newly resurfaced track at Suzuka. Looking ahead to Miami, McLaren will introduce a package of updates aimed at helping the MCL40 compete more directly with Mercedes.
McLaren’s first full race with two cars pays off
For the first time this season, McLaren started a Grand Prix with both cars on track. While this may not seem extraordinary, it highlights the team’s earlier struggles in Melbourne and Shanghai, challenges often outside their direct control. Even more impressive was the real possibility of seeing McLaren fight for victory in Japan—a chance ultimately affected by the safety car deployment on lap 21.
Until the pit stops, Oscar Piastri led the race, only to relinquish the position to Kimi Antonelli, who pitted under the safety car. Piastri finished second in his first Grand Prix of the season, over thirteen seconds behind Antonelli, while George Russell’s difficulties after the restart (he was third behind the safety car and finished fourth) make it reasonable to wonder whether McLaren could have actually won the race at Suzuka.
Team reaction and strategy
“We were surprised ourselves, especially at the end of the first stint, when not only did we manage to keep Russell behind, but we also increased the gap,” explained Andrea Stella. McLaren showed aggression, being the first top team to call their drivers in for a tire change, attempting to take control of the race. “We’ll never know if we could have won without the safety car,” Stella continued. “I believe we would have had a good chance against Russell, given his struggles overtaking Leclerc, and today our pace was similar to Ferrari’s. Antonelli, however, was faster than everyone else, so Kimi would have had his own chances for victory. I prefer to focus on the positives, and there were several, especially for Oscar. He drove exceptionally well early in the season, but hadn’t yet had the opportunity to show it. Today, he did.”
Performance insights from Suzuka
The race revealed the current potential of the MCL40. Previously, the team had only raced in the Shanghai sprint and the Australian GP with Lando Norris. Now, with both cars on track, McLaren could assess progress in power unit performance—an area where Woking engineers have invested heavily.
“This allowed us to be closer to Ferrari in qualifying,” Andrea Stella explained, “and in the race, we matched Ferrari’s pace while approaching Mercedes. We still lose a bit in corners compared to Leclerc and Hamilton, but our power unit is now more competitive overall. The new asphalt also helped, giving extra grip where chassis performance alone might not suffice.”
Looking forward to Miami
In 2023 and 2024, McLaren demonstrated the ability to make significant mid-season gains through updates. Similarly, the team is preparing a new package for the Miami GP, a move that could prove decisive in their season.
“We were surprised today, we didn’t expect to be in a position to fight for victory,” Stella concluded. “But we want to be consistently in this position. To do that, we’ll need to improve the chassis by a few tenths. That’s our goal with the upcoming upgrades, because today Mercedes, when running in clean air, can pull away. We saw that clearly with Kimi after the safety car.”
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