Andrea Stella says McLaren were surprised with their Japanese Grand Prix pace

Despite having a Mercedes power unit at the back of their MCL40, McLaren have been nowhere near as competitive as their supplier while suffering from reliability issues, which meant both cars did not even start the Chinese Grand Prix.

However, the reigning Formula 1 Champion seemed to have turned a corner in Japan last weekend, fast all weekend and, more importantly, reliable as they took the fight to Mercedes, a task handled by Ferrari in the first two races.

McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella commented: “We were in condition to start the race with two cars, which is the first time this year, and we were in condition to complete the race.

"I think today [Sunday] we confirmed the progress that we saw yesterday [Saturday] in Qualifying, progress that allowed Oscar [Piastri] to lead the race after a very good start.

"We were surprised ourselves, especially at the end of the first stint, where we not only were able to keep Russell behind, but we were also opening the gap at the end of the first stint.

“So, we thought that we should go first so that we could retain the leadership because we wanted to give it a go at winning the race," the Italian pointed out.

Piastri started the race from second on the grid, shot to the lead after a sluggish start from both Mercedes drivers, and was in serious contention for the win, but an ill-timed Safety Car following Oliver Bearman's crash shattered his hopes of victory.

Reflecting, Stella said: “We will never know whether, without the Safety Car, it would have been possible [to win] or not.

"I think it would have been possible against Russell, because we saw that Russell was struggling anyhow to overtake even Ferrari. I think today McLaren and Ferrari were on a similar pace.

“Antonelli, though, he had a faster pace than anybody else," he noted. "So, I think Antonelli at some stage would have been in the competition for the victory. So, we will not know if Oscar could have won the race or not.

"Ultimately, it doesn't make a big difference. I think today we should just take the positives, which I said at the start," Stella concluded. (Reporting by Agnes Carlier from Suzuka)