Lando Norris has raised concerns about McLaren`s race strategy after Max Verstappen defeated him at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Norris stayed behind Verstappen for all 53 laps at the Suzuka Circuit. He pitted in the pits at the same time as the Red Bull driver, getting very close to overtaking him as they exited the pit lane, which was the nearest he got to taking the lead.
The McLaren driver couldn`t get within one second of Verstappen to use DRS. Verstappen expertly controlled his speed to secure his first victory of the 2025 Formula 1 season.
“I could see Max clearly throughout the race, but I just couldn`t close the gap. I think being in clean air was enough for him to stay ahead, and he didn`t make any mistakes. He drove very well,” Norris commented.
“Looking back, the race was decided yesterday in qualifying. We know that starting in a better position increases your chances of winning.”
“I believe our pace was possibly a bit better, but not enough to overcome the dirty air to get into DRS range. And overtaking here is extremely difficult.”
“We experimented with a few things. Perhaps we could have been more strategic. We pitted on the same lap for some reason, instead of trying an overcut or undercut. These are things we’ll discuss. Still, good points for the team, and decent points for me. Of course, I would have preferred more, but sometimes you have to accept second place.”
Stella Explains Piastri`s Early Pit Stop
Last season, McLaren faced a problem at the 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix when they pitted Norris before Piastri, even though Piastri was leading.
Unlike Hungary, Piastri didn`t undercut Norris in this race, but his earlier pit stop almost forced Red Bull to bring Verstappen in as a reaction.
When asked why Norris wasn`t given the chance to undercut, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella explained: “We could have, but pitting Lando would have meant we couldn`t pit Oscar, which would have been problematic for Oscar.”
“Oscar would have had to wait, and that would have been an issue with cars like Russell, who had pitted. We needed to respond to that.”
Stella believes that going longer than Verstappen and having fresher tires for the second part of the race wouldn`t have worked for Norris either.
“We saw that staying out longer wouldn`t have been faster than pitting,” he added.
“We saw this with George Russell from Mercedes, who was quick on hard tires after his pit stop.”
“It takes about eight-tenths of a second to get close enough to attack the car in front. Once you`re within one second, you experience dirty air and performance drops. Today, overtaking was practically impossible.”
Norris: Verstappen Not Known for Giving Space
Norris almost overtook Verstappen in the pit lane after a slow Red Bull pit stop. The two drivers nearly went side-by-side as they exited the pits.
Verstappen remained ahead, and Norris drove onto the grass, saying on the radio that he was `forced off`.
“The team did a very good pit stop under pressure,” Norris said about the incident at the press conference.
“It was our only chance to try and get closer. I wasn`t even trying to race Max; I was just trying to use the grass! I didn`t even realize he was there! So, no issue. He had the position and the right to do what he did, so fair play.”
Verstappen joked: “I think the grass wasn`t very well cut on the right side. Maybe Lando noticed that and made sure it was nicely cut.”
In the previous year, McLaren missed out on race wins in Montreal, Silverstone, and Sao Paulo partly due to strategy mistakes.
Verstappen was behind Norris in those three races but finished ahead and won two of them, significantly shifting points in the championship.
While Stella doesn`t admit to strategic errors from McLaren, they did miss an opportunity to secure their third consecutive win at the start of 2025, despite having a fast car.
“The race was mostly decided in qualifying. There wasn`t much action during the race, and we ended up with the same result as qualifying,” Stella stated.
“We gained a lot of points, which is encouraging for our car, but the competition is close behind.”
Formula 1 continues with the Bahrain Grand Prix next weekend on April 11-13.
Wesley Dunham 
Gilbert Pendleton