The Papaya Return
The Japanese Grand Prix has finally delivered a positive result for McLaren, clearly struggling after the first two races of the season in Australia and especially in China, where both drivers of the Woking team had not even taken part in the race. The greatest satisfaction in Suzuka came from the performance of Oscar Piastri, who could have even fought for the victory if it hadn’t been for the entry of the Safety Car at an unfavorable moment, but the Australian #81 still crossed the finish line in second position. Good performance also from his teammate and reigning world champion Lando Norris, 5° after a great fight in the final stages with Lewis Hamilton, the last act of a race that had not developed positively for the Briton following an undercut attempt.
The drivers’ performances
A double result that allows Team Principal Andrea Stella to comment with more satisfaction and pride on the latest performance of both his drivers: “It was a good weekend that allows us to leave Suzuka encouraged – declared the Umbrian manager – the speed shown in qualifying was confirmed in the race, and we were really able to fight with Ferrari and, at times, with Mercedes. Oscar drove a superb race after an excellent start with a high pace, fully deserving the podium. Despite missing the first two Grands Prix, he is showing the best version of himself since he started racing in Formula 1: calm, resilient and a source of inspiration for the whole team. Lando brought home important points despite the heavily interrupted free practice sessions, which allowed him to complete barely two consecutive laps before the race. Our race execution, starts, strategy and the way we utilized the power unit, were solid”.
Read more Piastri returns to the podium: “Being disappointed with 2nd is a good result”
What is there to improve?
The weekend therefore satisfied Stella and the McLaren team, but in Woking there is still an aspect on which the British team is still working to improve its performance while waiting for the return to the track in Miami on the first weekend of May: “While this result encourages us, our goal remains clear: we must improve the fundamental performance of our chassis. The characteristics of this circuit and the excellent performance of our power unit played in our favor, but we know that our rivals still have an advantage in terms of cornering grip. We know we need a few more tenths of a second from the chassis to be able to consistently fight for the win. Now it is our responsibility to provide both Oscar and Lando with a car capable of consistently competing for victories, and we are focusing on introducing the necessary updates in the upcoming races to achieve this goal”.
Read more Leclerc: “We are behind on the power unit, but the one in Miami cannot change”
