2022 Japanese Grand Prix "We will now use the time we have before Austin to see how we can extract more"
Suzuka International Race Course, Sunday 9 October
Hear from McLaren Formula 1 drivers Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo, and Team Principal Andreas Seidl after the Japanese Grand Prix.
As it happened
• After a hectic first few laps in poor conditions, Daniel moved up to P8, and Lando slipped down to P13
• Two cars retired and a safety car was called, and shortly after the Japanese GP was red flagged on Lap Three
• While we waited for the rain to lighten, the grid was held in the pit-lane for over an hour
• The race was resumed and Lando and Daniel got a clean rolling start
• Lando pitted for Inters as conditions improved, with Daniel doing the same on the following lap
• Lando returned to track in P17, eventually making his way up to P9 as others pitted. Daniel came out in P15
• Russell overtakes Lando for P9
• Daniel moves up to P11
• As the two-hour time limit approached, the chequered flag was thrown

Started | 10th |
Finished | 10th |
Fastest lap | 1m48.175s on lap 8 (+3.764s, 17th) |
Pit-stops | 2, lap 2 [Inters/Wet] (during red flag) and lap 8 [Wet/Inters] (3.5s) |
“Firstly, I'm glad we got a race today. 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 on winning a second World Championship."

Started | 11th |
Finished | 11th |
Fastest lap | 1m47.843s on lap 11 (+3.432s, 15th) |
Pit-stops | 2, lap 2 [Inters/Wet] (during red flag) and lap 8 [Wet/Inters] (3.2s) |
“I’m happy we got to race today. 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. 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 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.”

“It was a disappointing Sunday afternoon for us. 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. We will now use the time we have before Austin to see how we can extract more. 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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