McLaren criticised for “just sat there” tactic against Max Verstappen

McLaren’s strategy at the F1 Japanese Grand Prix has been criticised for not being bold enough.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen converted his pole position into victory at Suzuka last weekend, ahead of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

Norris, who ended up on the grass when he exited the pits at the same time as Verstappen, later wondered whether an undercut strategy might have given him a better shot against his rival.

Piastri’s team radio request to let him attack Verstappen was also rejected.

“The weird thing in the race was how McLaren misused their advantage,” F1 analyst Peter Windsor claimed.

“The whole point of having two quick drivers in the car, capable of winning the Japanese Grand Prix, is that if they find themselves P2 and P3, let both guys do a bit of punching.

“Let Oscar force Max to take more out of his tyres than he wants, then let Lando take advantage of that. Start doing some stuff like that.

“They just sat there! What were they waiting for? Waiting for Max to make a mistake?

"I didn’t get that, at all.

“There was all this stuff ‘great podium finish for McLaren’. But they had the best car and should have won the grand prix. But they didn’t, they were beaten by a better guy.”

Difficult for Max Verstappen at F1 Bahrain GP?

The first three grands prix of the 2025 F1 season have been won by Norris, Piastri and Verstappen.

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella could point to the drivers’ and constructors’ championship for proof of why they made their decisions in Japan.

Norris is a point clear of Verstappen at the top of the drivers’, and McLaren lead the constructors’.

They will renew rivalries this weekend at the F1 Bahrain Grand Prix where McLaren are again expected to have the fastest car.

Windsor said about McLaren’s drivers in Japan: “Both of them knew they’d been given a massive punch by Max.

“It will have cleared after half-an-hour when they realised there aren’t many tracks like Suzuka on the calendar.

“Go to Bahrain, and the McLaren is bound to be even better than the Red Bull than it was at Suzuka.

“All they need to do is to put in a reasonable lap to be ahead of Max. I’m sure that’s how they are thinking.

“I can’t think of many circuits where a guy like Max can do what he did in an inferior car.”