McLaren's Andrea Stella defends team strategy despite Japan GP misses

Red Bull Racing/Red Bull Content Pool

SUZUKA, Japan -- McLaren team principal Andrea Stella defended his team's strategic decisions during the Japanese Grand Prix, particularly the choice not to swap drivers in the closing laps.

Max Verstappen secured victory from pole position at Suzuka, maintaining pressure from Lando Norris, who finished second, and Oscar Piastri in third. In the final ten laps, Piastri suggested over the radio that he could challenge Verstappen if Norris let him pass. However, McLaren decided not to switch their drivers, believing Norris was just as capable.

"I don't think it is so clear that Oscar was faster," Stella said. "Lando was trying to get in Max's slipstream, but going below one second resulted in significant grip loss. We knew from the start that on this track, you need a 0.7-0.8 second advantage to overtake."

Another strategy McLaren bypassed was pitting Norris before Verstappen to potentially "undercut" the Red Bull by gaining a performance boost with fresher tires. Instead, Piastri pitted on Lap 20 to counter a similar move from George Russell. Both Norris and Verstappen pitted on Lap 21.

Stella explained that pitting Norris first would have compromised Piastri’s position and left Norris vulnerable to losing positions if a safety car were deployed. He emphasized the importance of minimizing risk, even though an undercut might have looked more viable in hindsight.

After narrowly missing out on pole position, Norris by 0.012 seconds and Piastri by 0.44 seconds, Stella pointed to qualifying performance as a critical factor. "It was indeed a matter of milliseconds, with 0.043-0.045 seconds between P3 and P1. The qualifying laps yesterday in Q3 were an even more determinant factor than anything that happened today in the race," he said.

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