2023 Japanese Grand Prix – qualifying “Happy to be second and for the team to be second and third. Very, very happy”
Suzuka International Racing Course, Saturday, 23 September
Hear from McLaren Formula 1 drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Team Principal Andrea Stella after qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix.
| FP3 | 1m30.555s (+0.288s) | 15 laps | 3rd |
| Q1 | 1m30.439s (Softs) | 5th | |
| Q2 | 1m30.122s (Softs) | 6th | |
| Q3 | 1m29.458s (Softs) | 2nd |
“The first lap in Q3 was pretty solid. I was quite happy with it. On the last chicane, I could have done a better job, but it was a good lap. On the second lap, my first sector was good and the next two sectors not so good, so happy to end it in P2. It’s been a really good weekend for the team so far, we’ve got upgrades on the cars and they’re quick here. We thought we might have a decent chance but still had to make it happen. So, happy to be second and for the team to be second and third. Very, very happy.”
| FP3 | 1m30.507s (+0.240s) | 16 laps | 2nd |
| Q1 | 1m30.063s (Softs) | 2nd | |
| Q2 | 1m30.296s (Softs) | 9th | |
| Q3 | 1m29.493s (Softs) | 3rd |
“It’s been a very good day for us as a team getting P2 and P3. It was a great job by Oscar and, as usual, by Max, but a good day for us. I was pretty happy with my laps. It’s tricky, it’s not an easy circuit to put everything together always, but it’s so quick around here, the smallest mistake can make a big amount of lap time. I’m happy. It’s been a good day, and we have good positions for tomorrow.”
“P2 and P3 is a great day for McLaren, so we are delighted by this result. It shows the progress of the car on a track that rewards overall car performance. Well done again to everyone at McLaren for making sure we have the material available for both our drivers. Thanks to this we have two drivers up there today.
“It was a tricky session, it is easy to make little mistakes here and there, so well done to Oscar and Lando for maximising the package. We still have more than a half a second deficit to Verstappen, so we need to keep our feet on the ground as it gives us the measure of how much work we still have to do. We now focus on tomorrow, and hopefully, we can capitalise on a good qualifying.”
2023 Japanese Grand Prix – Free Practice
"It’s been a good first day, and as a team, I think it’s been a positive Friday"
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