Lando Norris reveals why he struggled more than Oscar Piastri in Japan

Lando Norris says getting caught up in dirty air cost him a better finish during Formula 1’s Japanese Grand Prix.

F1’s reigning world champion crossed the line fifth at Suzuka after coming out on top of a late battle with Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari. Norris finished 10 seconds behind team-mate Oscar Piastri, who claimed McLaren’s best result of the season with second place.

Norris explained that his race was ultimately hampered by spending too much time in dirty air while following rivals as he looked to make up positions. The Briton also felt Piastri “deserved” victory and was robbed by the timing of a safety car period, which swung the race in Kimi Antonelli and Mercedes’ favour.

“It was a good race from my side,” Norris told media including Crash.net. “Of course, it looks like it maybe could have been better with Oscar finishing second.

“That's a very good thing for the team. He drove a very good race, and probably deserved to win the race, honestly, if it wasn't for the safety car. So unfortunate from that side, that would have been good to see.

“I think I was just more in the mess. With Oscar in clean air, the clean air around here was crazy strong. Even when I overtook Lewis at the end, I expected to not really go much quicker and I went like fifth or six tenths quicker quite easily, so it’s crazy how much that helps.”

McLaren has endured a difficult start to its double world championship defence but enjoyed an encouraging weekend in Japan as the Woking squad appeared to significantly close the gap to Mercedes.

With a month-long gap before the next round in Miami on 3 May due to the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian grands prix because of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, Norris is hopeful McLaren can make further progress.

“The first few weekends have not been so good, and this weekend was much better for us,” Norris said.

“Going in the right direction, although we didn't change too many things, and we have some good things coming, I hope.

“It's already a positive that we put up such a strong race like we had here. So, positives, some things we know we need to work on, but otherwise a good day for McLaren.”