Rand Norris believes McLaren could have tried something different with his strategy at the Japanese Grand Prix, but his teammate Oscar Piastri didn’t complain about the lack of driver switching late in the race.
Max Verstappen led from pole position and had a close-knit company to help Norris approach the first round of the pit stop. Piastri tried to stop the first trio of the first trio and cover the threat of jumping to the car behind them. Later, when Verstappen went into the pit on the lap, Norris chases after him and says he made a tough race as there was no tire offset that allowed him to fight Red Bull more effectively.
“Max was very clear throughout the race, but from that point onwards we couldn’t get in,” Norris said. “So, clean air is enough to keep him in that position and I don’t think he made any mistakes. He drove a good race. He won the race yesterday with hindsight.
“I think our pace was probably slightly better, but it wasn’t enough to get through the dirty air. We’re going to get into Dr. because it’s almost impossible to get through here. I think it was a good race.
“We tried a few things. We could have tried a little more with strategy. Overcuts and undercuts – for some reason we put them in the box with the same wrap. So, for us, it’s a good point for us as a team. It’s a decent point for me. Of course, I liked it a little more.
Piastri appeared to be McLaren’s speed in the second part of the race, and regularly arrived within Norris’ DRS range, but when informed the team, McLaren opposed the swapping position as he felt that Norris could attack Burstappen if he couldn’t get faster.
“At the timing of the pit stop, Russell had laps before, so Leclerc wasn’t too late. “And we took a fair approach to racing in the medium anyway, so from my side, I don’t think there was anything obviously wrong with what we did.
“Then, in the end, I said what I felt. Obviously the team was happy with the state of things. So if you’re in Rand’s position, you’ll be pretty happy with the state of things too. That’s fine. Just say what you felt in the car and that’s what we want to do to the race.”