Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris both shared cautious optimism over McLaren’s prospects at this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix as the team look to build on their first podium finish of the season last time out in Australia.
During the initial dry session on Friday, Piastri and Norris secured the eighth and 10th positions respectively. They were just over a second slower than Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who set the pace before the red flag was raised due to Logan Sargeant’s crash. This incident affected their performance on the soft tyres.
In the subsequent session, which started damp but gradually dried up, Piastri was among the few drivers who opted for slick tyres towards the end. As a result, he recorded the fastest time of the session. However, this achievement didn’t provide significant data for the teams.
When questioned about his takeaways from today’s practice session, Oscar Piastri, who outperformed Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc in FP2, stated that he gained some valuable insights. He believes that the team is in a good position overall.
Piastri also mentioned that the red flag during FP1 disrupted their timing, making it difficult to accurately assess their performance. However, he feels that they are on par with their previous performances. Currently, he doesn’t have any additional information to share. He expressed his anticipation for tomorrow’s session and is eager to see what they can achieve.
The second-year racer added, “I believe our car is strong enough to compete. It will be intriguing to witness if we can match the speed we achieved in Australia.”
Last year, it was clear that the track suited us well. However, I believe that others have improved their performance. Therefore, we will have to wait and see what we are capable of achieving. Despite this, I am fairly confident that we can compete at the top.
Norris, who finished ahead of Piastri in a McLaren two-three finish behind Verstappen at Suzuka last season, mentioned that the team’s performance seems “decent” once again this weekend.
“It’s actually better than it seems, in my opinion, especially with the red flag interruption,” he explained. “I was on my fastest lap when the red flag was waved, and then the tire performance significantly decreased on the following lap.”
I believe we’re in a favorable position, likely the third-fastest team, but we’re neck and neck with Mercedes and Aston. It’s just as we anticipated, and Ferrari and Red Bull are quite a distance ahead.
I’m confident that things might tighten up a bit tomorrow, but overall, it’s pretty much in line with our expectations and how it’s been throughout the year.
Norris further disclosed the divergent paths he and Piastri took with their set-ups during practice, as McLaren aimed to gather extensive knowledge about their MCL38.
“I, for instance, opted for a distinct level of downforce compared to Oscar,” he elaborated. “I experimented with a slightly lower setting, but unfortunately, it didn’t yield the same level of performance.”
I wish I could have done more running today, but I’m confident tomorrow morning will be perfect to get that final feeling before qualifying. The car is still performing well, but Ferrari seems to have made a significant improvement and are likely ahead of us.
However, our car is still within the expected performance window. We are facing some challenges in certain areas, so our main focus is to minimize the losses in those areas. If we can achieve that, I believe we can still have a successful day.
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