Lando Norris was left bemused by Red Bull complaints about their race pace, after the McLaren racer was unable to match the speed of Max Verstappen during qualification.
The Dutch world champion once again topped the pecking order at Suzuka as Red Bull locked out the front row of the grid. Norris finished third behind Sergio Perez, and found himself 0.292 seconds adrift in the standings.
The 24-year-old English driver was left in little doubt to the quality he was up against in Red Bull, with the outing in Japan offering an emphatic illustration of the current Formula 1 pecking order. Norris is hopeful he can provide a challenge, as he did in 2023 on the track, but rubbished the notion that his rivals would see a drop in performance on race day.
“Last year I was side by side with Max into turn one so hopefully try and do that but it is tricky, they are quick,” he said. “They complained about their race pace [in practice] but I don’t think they have had a bad race in the last four or five years. They are going to be good tomorrow.”
After a successful qualification, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner suggested that things would be tighter on Sunday despite the efforts of his drivers. The Milton Keynes-based side's boss is uncertain how cooler conditions could impact his team's chances with the race having been brought forward from it's usual September staging.
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Horner said: "It is Checo's best-ever qualifying here, so we're really pleased to have both cars on the front row . It was another stunning lap by Max but I think the race could be a little closer tomorrow, but it is a great start to the weekend."
He added: "I think we've understood the issues, but I think we saw that the race pace is more varied.
Christian Horner is worried about one particular factor ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix (Getty Images)"In these cooler conditions, how the tyres behave is going to be a challenging factor. But I am sure it is going to be an interesting race, and I am glad to be starting on the front row."
After qualifying third, Norris is hopeful of earning a second podium in as many races but knows it will be difficult to catch Red Bull. He hopes to keep in touch with those ahead but believes the improving Perez will made that difficult.
Norris said: "It's so tricky, Sergio is doing a good job. So there's one much harder car to keep up with. But we proved last year when we were further away from them that we could keep in touch and not be miles behind. So that'll be our target.
"But I think realistically, we're still too far away to challenge them they are too quick for us. Yes, we are quicker in qualifying. But in the race normally they pull away a bit more. Our competition is with the guys behind and at same time, I'll do my best to push forward."
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