During Sunday’s post-race press conference following Max Verstappen’s win in the Japanese Grand Prix, Lando Norris was asked about how McLaren handled the strategy behind the Red Bull driver. With Norris starting second and teammate Oscar Piastri third, McLaren had a few different strategy options available to try and bring pressure to Verstappen.
Ultimately, McLaren played it somewhat safe. With those three running in the same order as they started Piastri pitted first, on Lap 20, to cover off a pit stop made by Mercedes driver George Russell on Lap 19.
Then on Lap 21 when Verstappen dove into the pits to make his stop, Norris followed him. Rather than try and stay out and attempt the “overcut,” McLaren called Norris in.
When the dust settled the three were as they started, with Verstappen up front, Norris and Piastri behind.
Leaving Norris to wonder what, if anything, could have been different.
“I mean, we obviously planned some things beforehand and we kind of know what to expect,” began Norris in the post-race Press Conference. “But yeah, hindsight is a wonderful thing.”
Norris then addressed the idea of staying out and attempting the overcut. As he described it, that potential decision carried its own set of risks.
“I think probably could have gone longer, could have tried going earlier, yes, but then you’re at risk of Safety Cars and other things. So it’s easy to say, ‘Yeah, you should have done that.’ But if I box three laps earlier or two laps earlier and the Safety Car comes out, then we look stupid.
“So can’t win them all and we take it on the chin.”
Verstappen’s rivals have been taking it on the chin for the past few years, as the Red Bull driver imposed his will on cars, tracks, drivers on the grid and frankly, the sport.
But this past week in Suzuka was something different.
Verstappen and Red Bull entered the Japanese Grand Prix facing more questions than answers, and the driver himself conceded that he lacked confidence in the RB21 after the first two practice sessions in Suzuka. Then, everything changed on Saturday, as the Red Bull driver delivered a vintage performance in qualifying that reminded the entire sport of what he can do, even when the machinery underneath him is not the dominant package on the grid. Verstappen seemingly willed the RB21 around the Suzuka International Racing Circuit, extracting every possible millisecond of lap time he could from his car during Q3.
He needed to, as he nipped Norris by just 0.012 seconds to take his first pole position of the season.
It was a qualifying performance among Verstappen’s best, and reminiscent of the 2023 Monaco Grand Prix, when the Red Bull driver admittedly pushed the RB19 beyond the limits on the tight Monte Carlo streets.
“In qualifying, you need to go all out and risk it all,” said Verstappen that Saturday. “My first sector wasn’t ideal on my final lap, I think Turn 1 was a bit cautious, but then I knew I was behind, so the last sector I gave it everything I had and clipped a few barriers … ”
But that was in the dominant challenger that was the RB19, not this season’s RB21, which has given Red Bull and Verstappen their share of headaches.
Still, qualifying in Japan was just one part of the job. As surprising as the pole position was — including to Verstappen himself — he faced a tall task of keeping Norris and Piastri behind him on Sunday. Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner said as much before the race, telling the crew on F1TV just before the start that it would take one “hell of a job” for Verstappen to take the win.
He did just that.
Many will question how McLaren handled their strategy calls, and following the race Team Principal Andrea Stella outlined how on this day, there were no easy answers.
“We saw that staying out would not have been faster than pitting,” he said to Sky Sports F1 about a potential overcut from Norris.
“We saw that from [Mercedes’] George Russell, who was fast on the hard tires after pitting.
“It takes about eight tenths of a second to attack the car ahead. As soon as you get within one second you have dirty air and performance drops. Today I think it was not possible to overtake.”
Stella was then asked about potentially pitting Norris first of the three, to try and undercut Verstappen in front of him. To hear Stella describe it, that might have hampered McLaren’s chances of a double podium.
”We could [have] but I think pitting Lando would have meant that we could not pit Oscar, and this would have been a problem for Oscar.
“Oscar would have waited, which I think would have been a problem with the cars, especially Russell, that pitted and we needed to cover.”
Complicating matters, of course, is that a day with no easy answers means you are left waiting for the driver up front to make a mistake. Verstappen is not one to make mistakes.
“Max drove a good race today, no mistakes, and the pace was too similar today to do anything more,” said Norris after the race. “Long race, a lot of pushing. It was a flat-out race from start to finish – tough, but just not enough today. Nothing special that we had that could get Max on. They were quick, and no mistakes like I said, so he deserved it.”
There is a long way to go here in the 2025 Formula 1 season, 21 race weekends to be exact. But Sunday in Suzuka served as the latest reminder of just what Max Verstappen is capable of in a race car, and just how tough it can be to beat him.
His boss summed it up best.
“That was one of Max’s best weekends,” said Horner to Sky Sports F1. “Without any debate, he is the best driver in the world currently. The hard work was done [Saturday in Qualifying] but he was inch perfect in the race.
“We worked hard to give him a car he was able to extract the most out of and he drove the wheels off it, he was stunning. He nailed the last chicane and that was enough,” added Horner.
”When Max elevates the game so much you need to nail laps in qualifying and bring home any possible millisecond,” concluded Stella.
McLaren did not hold up their end of the bargain this past weekend.
But that is the target they need to hit if McLaren wants to dethrone Verstappen in the Drivers’ Championship this season.