Andrea Stella: A race can be eventful

      Andrea Stella, the head of the McLaren team, was not upset that his drivers missed pole position in Suzuka, and on Sky Sports said that they were ready to fight for victory in the Japanese Grand Prix regardless of weather conditions.

      Question: How do you assess the results of the qualification? The McLaren drivers were considered favorites, but Max Verstappen won the pole, although he did not show the best time in any sector in the final. Lando Norris was the fastest in the first sector, and Oscar Piastri was the fastest in the second and third... Andrea Stella: It turned out to be a good reference! Definitely, hats off to Verstappen, he drove a very impressive lap, especially considering the results he showed in the first two parts of qualifying.

      In general, Max did well! It's not for nothing that he became world champion four times. If we talk about our team, then the qualification was generally positive for us. We were one of the main contenders for pole position, despite the fact that the first three results came in 0.044 seconds, which means that we are quite competitive.

      I'm sure that Lando and Oscar could have played for a few milliseconds on certain sectors of the circle, but in theory everything can be easily put together. And when you're driving a real car, and even on a highway like Suzuki, it's much more difficult to do it. So the result should be considered good.

      Tomorrow we will start from a good position, but we still need to see what happens to the weather – in general, the race can be eventful.

      Question: Yes, it is not yet clear what the weather conditions will be, but the rain will at least help solve the problem of grass fires on the sides of the highway. What difficulties, apart from weather-related ones, do you anticipate?Andrea Stella: Grass fires are really alarming, because they have caused so many interruptions in training and qualifying. Such incidents may well affect the course of Sunday's race. Of course, rain will help solve this problem, even if it doesn't rain during the Grand Prix, but before the start, a lot of water will have to pour out on the ground.

      As for the rest, let's see what awaits us. In Australia, we have already proved that we can be fast in the rain. You just have to be prepared for this and take advantage of any opportunities that may present themselves tomorrow.