Hampered by technical issues throughout the weekend, Lando Norris believes he did not exploit his full potential in Japan.
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At the Suzuka circuit, Lando Norris had to deal with a preparation far from ideal before securing fifth place on the grid. The McLaren driver was held back by several technical problems, considerably limiting his track time.
This lack of running had direct consequences on his ability to explore setups and quickly find the right balance with his car. Norris does not hide that these difficulties weighed heavily on his weekend.
“It clearly had an impact on our ability to test things, try setups and be comfortable with the car from the start, but also to perform long runs to prepare for the race, he explains. It’s a shame to lose batteries again, I’m going to get a penalty soon, that’s for sure.”
A lack of preparation for the race
Beyond qualifying, it is especially with a view to the race that this lack of running worries the Briton. Unable to simulate stints in real conditions, he approaches the Grand Prix with less certainty than his rivals.
“I didn’t do any high fuel load runs, so it was complicated and I spent the whole weekend trying to catch up, even up to qualifying.”
In a season where tire and energy management is crucial, this lack of preparation could weigh heavily on Sunday.
Despite this unfavorable context, Norris refuses to hide behind these problems to explain his result. The McLaren driver admits he was not flawless during his decisive lap.
“I don’t want to say that the whole gap today simply comes from that. I clearly don’t feel like I was at my best level or that I extracted everything from the car. I made a few mistakes on my last lap, but everyone was slower, except for two drivers.”
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This lucidity testifies to his personal high standards, even in a complicated weekend.
An encouraging fifth place… but frustrating
Despite everything, Norris leaves with some satisfaction. His fifth place remains competitive, even if the tiny gap with Charles Leclerc leaves a bitter taste.
“I’m happy with this fifth place. I was very close to Charles, and knowing that the gap was so small hurts a bit more. 4 thousandths but he beat me, well done to him. Otherwise, I think I did a good job. Could it have been better? Yes. But it could also have been much worse.”
From the pit wall, McLaren boss Andrea Stella prefers to focus on the progress made despite the reliability issues. According to him, the team is starting to better understand and exploit the potential of the power unit.
“It’s a shame for Lando and the reliability. But we are seeing signs of progress in terms of performance and overall competitiveness.”
“We have always mentioned the difficulty of fully exploiting this new V6, but we are mastering it better and better, we are refining our settings with the HPP engineers and this translates into lap time gains.”
Potential still to be exploited
At Suzuka, Norris proved he could stay in touch with the best despite conditions far from optimal. Now remains to transform this solid base into a complete performance, with a weekend finally mastered from start to finish.
Because one thing is certain: without these setbacks, the McLaren driver could undoubtedly have aimed even higher.
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