Norris admits he was 'fighting a losing battle' with Ferrari

Lando Norris might have qualified ahead of both Ferraris the previous day, but when it came to the Japanese GP on Sunday he knew the McLaren was unlikely to be able to stay in front and claim a podium this week.

With Red Bull locking out the front row of the grid with Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, Norris lined up on the second row in third place alongside his former team mate Carlos Sainz, while Charles Leclerc was only P8 on the grid..

Norris managed to fend off Sainz at the start, and again held position n the restart following red flags for an accident further back involving Daniel Ricciardo and Alex Albon.

But Norris had to pit earlier than the two Ferrari drivers on lap 11, while Sainz extended to lap 15 and Leclerc pulled off a mammoth 26 lap initial stint on mediums before making his first stop.

That was enough to put Leclerc ahead, while Sainz was twice able to pass Norris on track during the race meaning that Norris ended up in fifth place during the final laps, duly following the Ferrari pair to the finish.

• Read also: Verstappen and Perez back in charge with Red Bull 1-2 in Suzuka

"Tough race! We gave it a good try, but we just didn't have enough pace today, so trying to cover and stay ahead of the Ferraris was challenging.

"It was as expected, to be honest with you," Norris told Motorsport.com and other media in the paddock at Suzuka after the chequered flag. "Which is behind Ferrari, where we've been all year.

"It was hard in the beginning when you're trying to push to keep up with a quicker car or push to stay ahead of the Ferraris, which were quicker.

"You hurt the tyres more and it's just kind of like a bit of a spiral, fighting a losing battle out there," he sighed.

"Yesterday [in qualifying] we just excelled," he continued. "I put in some very strong laps and made us look maybe a bit too good. Today it was a bit more back to reality."

Norris did wonder whether the timing of his second pit stop - on the same lap as Leclerc's first, which meant that Leclerc retained track position over Norris - had been the right call by the McLaren strategists.

"I think we did what was best at the time, but it's always hard to know. Maybe we didn't expect Charles to box? I'm not sure," Norris said. "He was close enough that you would kind of want to say, 'If we'd done something different, maybe we'd have a better chance.'"

The team had actually been wary of a late charge from Mercedes' George Russell, but Norris felt that this hadn't been the threat it might have appeared at the time.

"I think we covered George, which I feel like we maybe didn't need to do," he proposed. "And because we tried to cover George, we boxed at the same time as Charles.

"I for sure could have gone another five, six laps," he suggested. "Created a tyre delta [advantage], and then come back through like Carlos did. It's just an opinion, but it's something we'll discuss and review.

"We still did a good job and maximised the points, but starting third and finishing fifth is never the nicest thing to happen. It's the maximum of what we could achieve today though. We have to be happy with it, as much as it doesn't feel like a great result."

His team mate Oscar Piastri was also somewhat disappointed with his day, which saw him start sixth and finish in eighth place. "Things didn't quite click into place and we weren't fighting for the positions we wanted to.

"However it's four points finishes on the bounce this year and there's plenty to take away and try to learn from," he added, still smarting from being passed by Russell at the beginning of the final lap.

And team principal Andrea Stella was also feeling more upbeat, describing the result as a "positive outcome" for the team, adding: "We are happy that we are pushing for podium finishes, even if today it was out of our grasp.

"We tried to go for a podium with Lando, stopping early, making sure we stayed ahead of Carlos, but ultimately, we didn't have the pace. It also meant that we found ourselves on a slightly slower strategy and we finished behind Leclerc.

"Obviously after a strong qualifying, we could have hoped for trying to consolidate a podium finish, but it wasn't on the cards in terms of car performance today.

"If we look at the classification, at least for the first five, it's in competitiveness order," he noted. "But it was important points for the team today, which consolidates the third position in the championship."

McLaren have 69 points in the constructors standings, some way off Red Bull and Ferrari but maintaining a comfortable 35 points advantage over Mercedes, with one point further back to Aston Martin.

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