Lando Norris jokingly asks McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri to “emulate Ayrton Senna into Turn 1” to stop dominant Max Verstappen in Japan 

Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris continued McLaren's mid-season resurgence as the Papaya Boys qualified second and third for the Japanese GP behind pole-sitter Max Verstappen.

With the reigning champion resuming his normal service, Norris joked that only an Ayrton Senna-Alain Prost-esque crash would help McLaren beat the Red Bull driver.

The Japanese GP has played host to many of F1's title deciders in the past, with Senna and Prost crashing into each other multiple times at the Suzuka circuit. The first instance occurred in the 1989 season when both McLaren drivers collided and came to a halt with Prost winning the title.

Fast forward to the conclusion of the 1990 season, Senna was still with McLaren while Prost had switched sides to Ferrari. This time in the Japanese GP, the Brazilian intentionally took out the Frenchman in the first corner of the first lap to claim the 1990 F1 title.

With Oscar Piastri starting on the front row alongside Max Verstappen, Lando Norris jokingly asked his teammate to take out the Red Bull driver.

“We're gonna try, if he's leading by Turn 2, there's not a lot you can really do. So, if you want to emulate Senna, Oscar, into Turn 1, you can do that happily – can be lovely for me!” he said in the post-qualifying press conference.

He added:

“So I think I we’ll try. I think our race pace is decent – it’s definitely not going to be as good as the Red Bull – but we’ll do our best.”

The last time the McLaren drivers started behind Max Verstappen was in the British GP, where Lando Norris nabbed the lead in turn 1. However, he later relinquished it to the Red Bull driver, eventually finishing second. Piastri was on course to finish third, but an ill-timed safety car meant he had to settle for fourth position.

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Lando Norris heaps praises on McLaren for the impressive turnaround this season

From not scoring points in the first two rounds of the season to fighting for the pole position midway through the season, McLaren has made huge gains this year.

Piastri and Norris in the Japanese GP

In the Japanese GP, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were the nearest threats to Max Verstappen, although they ended half-a-second behind the Dutchman. Norris gave credit to the team for the incredible turnaround as he said to Sky Sports F1:

"The jumps we have made in terms of positions are probably more than we had been expecting..."

"To be quicker than Ferrari, quicker than Mercedes, from having a much worse car, I think that is what has been so impressive. The team are doing an exceptional job, I think that's clear from how much we have improved and to be fighting for front rows and things like that. It's deserved," he added.

McLaren is poised to take home a double podium finish this weekend, adding to their three podium finishes this season.