Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri finished second and third in the Japanese Grand Prix, but it was not enough to please Jacques Villeneuve, who was unimpressed by McLaren’s strategy
McLaren have come under fire from Sky Sports pundit Jacques Villeneuve for their passive approach at the Japanese Grand Prix. Despite Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri securing second and third place respectively, they didn’t appear to seriously challenge race leader Max Verstappen.
The Suzuka International track is notorious for its limited overtaking opportunities, which saw Verstappen, Norris, and Piastri finish in the same positions they started. McLaren’s tactics to combat that left much to be desired, according to ex-driver Villeneuve.
He questioned why the team didn’t take more risks or try a different strategy to overtake Verstappen, and was baffled by their pit calls. The 53-year-old questioned: “Why would you stop Norris, when your team-mate has already stopped? Why won’t you take a gamble? You have two drivers out there!
“It’s as if they’re trying to not win. You need a winning attitude when you want to win. You need to want to win. You cannot just be on the defensive, panicking, being afraid of, ‘Are you doing what might be right?'”
Norris admitted that McLaren experimented with some tactics in an attempt to clinch the race, lauding the points haul that his team left Japan clutching.
The British driver, who remains at the top of the Drivers’ Championship standings, also expressed his perplexity at being called to pit immediately after Piastri.
“We tried some things,” Norris conceded, reports the Express. “Maybe we could have tried a bit more with strategy and overcut or undercut. We just boxed on the same lap for some reason.
“So some things we’ll discuss, but good points for us as a team. Decent points for me, of course, would have liked a little bit more, but have to take seconds sometimes.”
Verstappen celebrated his first win of the season and expressed his surprise at the victory, given that he had not anticipated it, particularly after the practice sessions.
“Before the weekend I didn’t expect I could win,” Verstappen admitted. “Especially not after Friday, but the most important thing was that we started from pole position.
“McLaren is just faster, only they couldn’t get into the DRS to take action. They were trying to manage their tyres because you couldn’t really overtake anyone on lap two either.
“You just kind of create a gap, then at the end of the stint you saw that they were getting closer again. Then they tried to attack because my tyres were getting a little too hot.
“It helped that it was a bit colder. Your tyres overheat a little less then. That remains a problem for us.”
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