McLaren shows strong pace despite disrupted Friday at Suzuka

McLaren endured a mixed but ultimately encouraging opening day at the Japanese Grand Prix, with Oscar Piastri topping FP2 and Lando Norris showing competitive speed despite limited running.

The team faced early setbacks — including aero‑rake testing and a hydraulic issue — yet still emerged as one of the strongest packages on Friday.

In FP1, Norris’ session began slowly as he completed just one lap with aero rakes fitted to the car. Removing the equipment cost him valuable track time, but once he got going, the reigning World Champion immediately looked fast. Piastri, meanwhile, delivered a clean and competitive session, finishing P4.

The challenges continued into FP2, where Norris missed further running due to a hydraulic leak. Forced to run out of sequence with the rest of the field, he ended the session in P4, half a second behind his team‑mate. Piastri, however, delivered a standout performance, topping the session and looking confident around the demanding Suzuka circuit.

Despite the disruptions, McLaren’s pace — particularly in Piastri’s hands — suggests the team could be a major factor in qualifying.

Lando Norris finished P3 in FP1 (1:31.798) and P4 in FP2 (1:30.649). The Briton was candid about the difficulties caused by the lack of consistent track time: “Tricky day, we didn’t get the laps we needed. Early in FP2 we couldn’t do much more than one lap at a time, and a lot of the morning was aero work, so the running we did manage wasn’t really representative.

"Around a track like this, you just want laps to build confidence and refine the setup, and right now we’re two or three steps behind with no long runs and very limited consecutive running.

“With that said, we pulled a few things together at the end and learned a bit, even if it wasn’t as much as we’d have liked. We’ll use the night to reset, go through the data we have, and try to fix some things so we can get meaningful laps on the board and get back on track tomorrow.”

Norris’ comments underline the importance of rhythm at Suzuka — something he has yet to fully establish this weekend.

Oscar Piastri delivered one of the standout performances of the day, finishing P4 in FP1 (1:31.865) and P1 in FP2 (1:30.133). The Australian was pleased with the team’s progress: “Overall, it was a decent day for us. We felt like we made some good progress, particularly in the second Practice session, which was encouraging.

"The feeling is positive, and we've gathered some valuable data that puts us in a solid position. We know there's still work to do, and it's clear that some of our competitors, especially Mercedes, are very strong.

"However, the focus is on our own performance. We hope to build on the progress from today and carry that momentum forward to be even more competitive.”

Randy Singh, McLaren’s Senior Director of Racing, praised the team’s recovery from a difficult start and emphasized the importance of staying grounded:

“We made the most of our opportunities today despite a challenging start. After FP1, the team did a fantastic job to manage a hydraulic issue on Lando's car and ensure we still gathered valuable data from the session.

"Seeing Oscar finish P1 is always encouraging, and it shows we are working hard to extract the maximum from the package, but we remain realistic. We don't believe the fundamental pecking order has changed since the last race.