McLaren's surprising claim about Max Verstappen's pole position pace in Suzuka

McLaren boss Andrea Stella has claimed that Max Verstappen's pole position pace was something that did not surprise the team because that was precisely what they had seen during practice sessions. The F1 Japanese GP saw the Woking-based squad being delivered its first loss in a Grand Prix since last season.

Heading to Suzuka, McLaren was the team that was expected to dominate the field once again. Throughout practice sessions, it did appear that the car was just a step ahead of everyone else. Then came Q3, and it was at that time that Verstappen sprung a surprise and jumped both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to secure pole position.

Even in the race, Max Verstappen just managed the race from the very first lap and was completely in control throughout the Grand Prix. Talking to the media, including Racingnews365, Andrea Stella revealed that the Red Bull driver's pole position lap was in line with what the team had expected.

Stella said that if one takes into consideration the fuel loads and the engine modes, then Verstappen was around a tenth behind McLaren, and that was exactly what we saw in Q3. He said:

"I think you need a perfect execution to win races like this. In hindsight I think the gap we had in qualifying compared to Red Bull was the same gap we measured in practice. I invite everyone to watch the practices, where you always have to keep in mind that 10 kilograms of fuel on the track is three and a half tenths. And that the engine setting can be a few tenths of a second. So for us it was very clear that Verstappen was very close. We thought we had a lead of a tenth, a tenth and a half."

He added:

"That was what happened, until Q3. If it's a matter of milliseconds, everyone will always say that they could have done better here and there. But this is really a matter of milliseconds and that shouldn't overshadow our weekend, which is still quite positive overall."

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Max Verstappen doesn't think Red Bull can challenge McLaren on every track

Max Verstappen is now just one point behind Lando Norris in the championship, and the result in Suzuka was a major boost for the driver. With that being said, the driver still doesn't think Red Bull is at the level yet to challenge McLaren at every track. He said (via the aforementioned source):

"I don't think so, to be honest. It was very difficult to overtake here. Bahrain is a completely different circuit and very hard on the tyres. The rubber also overheats. We still have work to do, but we can be there if we do everything perfectly."

The 2025 F1 season is slowly developing as the title battle intensifies. While McLaren has the best car, Max Verstappen is the best driver on the grid with the best operational team around him.