McLaren have been reflecting on a "disappointing" performance at the Japanese Grand Prix, with the team citing key moments in the race that cost Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo. The pair had lined up in P10 and P11 on the grid respectively, but both failed to progress from these positions during the event, which was delayed by two hours following heavy rainfall and eventually ran to a shortened distance of 28 laps. Despite the difficulties, Norris was pleased to come away from a tough weekend with a point. "Firstly, I'm glad we got a race," the Briton said after the Grand Prix. "The Japanese fans have been amazing here all weekend, and they waited in the rain for ages, so I'm glad we could give them that. Of course as drivers we always want to race. "The race itself was a tricky one. I lost a lot of positions in the first start which was unfortunate, but then made up for it with the pit-stop, and it was good to come away with a point. "Finally, congratulations to Max [Verstappen] on winning a second World Championship."
Ricciardo: We have some things to improve
Reflecting on his own race, Ricciardo believes that getting the timing wrong regarding the switch to Intermediate tyres was where his afternoon unravelled. "I'm happy we got to race. It was looking very unlikely so, as a driver, of course, to have that opportunity and have a bit of fun, I enjoyed that, and more so for the fans, especially sitting out in this weather," he explained. "The end result was just really a case of when we fit the Inters, which was tricky. It’s not like a normal situation where it’s ready and you just go. There are a few things to consider. "I think the cars that went in, like [Sebastian] Vettel certainly capitalised, so that's where we lost out today. Otherwise, I don't think our pace was too bad but it was also just a case of managing the tyres. "We have some things to improve but ultimately, I’m just glad we made a race for the fans today. Congratulations to Max on winning a well-earned second Drivers' Championship."
Seidl pinpoints what went wrong for McLaren
Team boss Andreas Seidl believes that Norris and Ricciardo lost out at different points of the race, with the former losing positions at the initial start while the latter suffered later on. "It was a disappointing Sunday afternoon for us," Seidl commented. "On Daniel's side, despite moving up some positions at the initial start we were too conservative at the restart, staying out for too long which resulted in losing positions and dropping out of the points. "On Lando's side we unfortunately lost several positions at the initial start which we then recovered by pitting at the right time following the restart. Overall, we were not as competitive as we would have liked to be." Seidl is hopeful that the squad can bounce back ahead of the next race on the calendar, the United States Grand Prix. "We will now use the time we have before Austin to see how we can extract more," he added. "Thanks to the entire team here at the track, back home and HPP for completing an intense double header. "I'm happy for the great Japanese fans that got to see some racing in challenging conditions. Also, congratulations to Max for his second World Championship."
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