Norris started third and was the first of the favorites to pit, but as the race progressed he lost out to Ferrari duo Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc to finish fifth, while the latter passed fourth from eighth place on the grid using a one. -stopping strategy.
After the race, while admitting that the Ferraris were supposed to have a higher race pace, Norris suggested that he could have run longer before his final pit stop rather than arriving at the same time as Leclerc.
But Stella insisted the team had made the right decisions with an offensive strategy that could have earned them a podium finish.
“I think we were a little bit out of options because when we stopped Lando at the start we kind of knew that Ferrari was ready to undermine us,” he said.
“So we wanted to play preventatively. We had two tough sets, so we were able to stop early, and by stopping Lando early, we wanted to see: can we aim for the podium? And we even tried to see if we could beat Perez?
“I thought it was worth trying this. Ultimately this put us on a race that could have been at a slight disadvantage compared to the overall time. [of the race] point of view, but I think it was definitely worth a try. On Lando’s side, we are therefore happy to have wanted to try to finish on the podium.
Watch: F1 Japanese Grand Prix 2024 Review – Normal Service Resumption
Responding to questions from Norris about the timing of his second visit to the pits, Stella said the team also needed to keep an eye on Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.
“The timing of the second save was forced by Leclerc,” he said. “There was also Carlos approaching Lando. So Carlos would have passed Lando and once Carlos passes Lando, Lando loses time and then he ends up behind Hamilton and Russell.
“Because when you race with that many cars, you have to consider multiple implications. It’s not like you’re driving just one car.
“I’m not sure how much fun it is for the spectators, but for us it makes the race quite complex in terms of who you’re actually competing against.”
Asked by Autosport if the team could have done something different and beaten Leclerc, Stella replied: “I don’t think today it was possible to do much more, to finish on a particular podium. Maybe with Lando, if we had given up trying to finish on a podium, we could have finished ahead of Leclerc.
“This is, in hindsight, the only opportunity that could have presented itself to us, but it would have meant giving up on the podium, which we were not prepared to do.”
Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL38, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15
Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
Stella admitted Oscar Piastri had a quieter race en route to eighth place, with Australia losing to Russell in the closing laps.
“With Oscar, I don’t think there are a lot of different options today,” he said. “If we look at the final ranking, it goes in the order of automobile competitiveness. I just think it’s a shame that with Oscar, with the final block, we lost the position to Russell.
“Otherwise we would have finished ahead of Mercedes and that, as I said, could be pretty much the finishing order – given that Fernando [Alonso] he did a very good job as he usually does, so he’s a bit special in that regard, and I think that changes the competitiveness of the car a bit.
Summing up the weekend, he said: “We are happy. We are [the] once again the third best performing team, thus consolidating third position in the championship. This is a positive result.
Norris started third and was the first of the favorites to pit, but as the race progressed he lost out to Ferrari duo Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc to finish fifth, while the latter passed fourth from eighth place on the grid using a one. -stopping strategy.
After the race, while admitting that the Ferraris were supposed to have a higher race pace, Norris suggested that he could have run longer before his final pit stop rather than arriving at the same time as Leclerc.
But Stella insisted the team had made the right decisions with an offensive strategy that could have earned them a podium finish.
“I think we were a little bit out of options because when we stopped Lando at the start we kind of knew that Ferrari was ready to undermine us,” he said.
“So we wanted to play preventatively. We had two tough sets, so we were able to stop early, and by stopping Lando early, we wanted to see: can we aim for the podium? And we even tried to see if we could beat Perez?
“I thought it was worth trying this. Ultimately this put us on a race that could have been at a slight disadvantage compared to the overall time. [of the race] point of view, but I think it was definitely worth a try. On Lando’s side, we are therefore happy to have wanted to try to finish on the podium.
Watch: F1 Japanese Grand Prix 2024 Review – Normal Service Resumption
Responding to questions from Norris about the timing of his second visit to the pits, Stella said the team also needed to keep an eye on Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.
“The timing of the second save was forced by Leclerc,” he said. “There was also Carlos approaching Lando. So Carlos would have passed Lando and once Carlos passes Lando, Lando loses time and then he ends up behind Hamilton and Russell.
“Because when you race with that many cars, you have to consider multiple implications. It’s not like you’re driving just one car.
“I’m not sure how much fun it is for the spectators, but for us it makes the race quite complex in terms of who you’re actually competing against.”
Asked by Autosport if the team could have done something different and beaten Leclerc, Stella replied: “I don’t think today it was possible to do much more, to finish on a particular podium. Maybe with Lando, if we had given up trying to finish on a podium, we could have finished ahead of Leclerc.
“This is, in hindsight, the only opportunity that could have presented itself to us, but it would have meant giving up on the podium, which we were not prepared to do.”
Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL38, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15
Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
Stella admitted Oscar Piastri had a quieter race en route to eighth place, with Australia losing to Russell in the closing laps.
“With Oscar, I don’t think there are a lot of different options today,” he said. “If we look at the final ranking, it goes in the order of automobile competitiveness. I just think it’s a shame that with Oscar, with the final block, we lost the position to Russell.
“Otherwise we would have finished ahead of Mercedes and that, as I said, could be pretty much the finishing order – given that Fernando [Alonso] he did a very good job as he usually does, so he’s a bit special in that regard, and I think that changes the competitiveness of the car a bit.
Summing up the weekend, he said: “We are happy. We are [the] once again the third best performing team, thus consolidating third position in the championship. This is a positive result.