McLaren drivers justify no swap decision in Japan

Piastri and Norris explain why position swap wasn't attempted in Japanese GP pursuit of Verstappen

McLaren's decision not to swap their drivers in the closing stages of the Japanese Grand Prix was the right call.

Both Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris have backed the team's conservative approach at Suzuka, despite missing out on a potential victory against Max Verstappen.

Piastri offered a candid assessment of the situation during the drivers' press conference in Bahrain, effectively putting the matter to rest.

Qualifying position was key

The Australian driver pointed to Saturday's performance as the critical factor that ultimately determined Sunday's outcome.

"Qualifying ahead of Max was probably the key to that,"

Piastri told media.

"We looked through it, I think it was pretty clear to see that you needed a very big pace advantage to overtake on Sunday."

Piastri had requested to be allowed past teammate Norris during the race to attempt an overtake on race leader Verstappen.

However, upon further analysis, he acknowledged this strategy likely wouldn't have changed the final result.

Risk-Reward Analysis

The McLaren duo emphasized that any alternative strategy carried significant risk with minimal chance of success.

"I think we've spoken through a lot of the potential different scenarios we found ourselves in and what we could have done differently," Piastri explained.

"There was either a big element of risk with not much chance for reward."

Team principal Andrea Stella later revealed that cars needed an eight-tenth advantage to execute overtakes at Suzuka, highlighting the difficulty of the mission McLaren's drivers faced.

Championship Perspective

Both drivers acknowledged the importance of securing points in the early season rather than gambling on high-risk maneuvers.

"Putting into perspective how early we are in the season and not giving away points unnecessarily to those behind us was important as well,"

said Piastri, demonstrating his understanding of the bigger championship picture.

Norris similarly defended the team's approach, though he admitted initial frustration after the race.

"I think it's very easy, and even for me when I stepped out of the car and I looked at things, I wasn't best pleased with how things looked," Norris confessed.

No guarantees

The British driver emphasized that alternative strategies offered no certainty of success against Verstappen.

"Nothing was a guarantee that I would have passed Max. Nothing was a guarantee that the undercut would have been strong enough," Norris stated firmly.

"I would have come out always in every moment in traffic and behind cars."

Despite external criticism, Norris expressed complete faith in McLaren's decision-making process.

He did, however, suggest the team might reconsider their risk tolerance in future races.

"Would I and have we reviewed what level of risk we want to take in different scenarios, I think is probably our bigger question after last weekend," he concluded.

McLaren's double podium finish has strengthened their position in the constructors' championship, as the team continues its strongest start to a season in recent years.