Formula 1 had a competitive McLaren at the Japanese GP, but Lando Norris explained why he couldn’t keep up with the performance of his teammate Oscar Piastri. The Briton stated that he spent a good part of the race stuck in dirty air, a factor that compromised his pace and prevented him from fighting for higher positions.
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Norris crossed the finish line in fifth place at Suzuka, after overtaking Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton at the end of the race. The McLaren driver finished about ten seconds behind Piastri, who took second place, the team’s best result of the season.
Despite the difference, Norris evaluated his own race positively, but highlighted that the scenario favored his teammate: “It was a good race on my part. Of course it feels like it could have been better with Oscar finishing second,” he stated.
The Briton also praised the Australian’s performance and considered that he could have won the race: “This is very good for the team. He had a very good race and probably deserved to win, honestly, if it weren’t for the safety car. It was a shame, it would have been nice to see that,” he said.
According to Norris, the main difference was the time he spent behind other cars: “I think I was more stuck in the middle of the pack. Oscar was in clean air, and the clean air here was extremely strong,” he explained. The driver also highlighted that he noticed the difference when overtaking Hamilton at the end of the race.
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“Even when I overtook Lewis at the end, I expected not to be much faster, but I was about half a second faster with ease. It’s impressive how much that helps,” said the Briton.
The positive result in Japan also represented an encouraging sign for McLaren, which had been facing a difficult start to the season in defending its titles. At Suzuka, the team showed evolution and managed to reduce the gap to Mercedes.
With a one-month break until the next round in Miami, following the cancellations of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian GPs due to the war in the Middle East, Norris believes the team can continue to move forward: “The first few weekends weren’t that good, and this one was much better for us. We are heading in the right direction,” he added.
The Briton also indicated that new updates are on the way: “We haven’t changed many things yet, and we have some new things coming. It’s already positive that we had a strong race like we had here. There are points we know we need to improve, but other than that, it was a good day for McLaren,” he completed.
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