Stella: I will be surprised if we manage to compete with Ferrari in the race.

      Both McLaren drivers finished qualifying in Suzuka in the top five, with Oscar Piastri achieving the 3rd fastest time, only behind the Mercedes representatives. Andrea Stella, the team principal from Woking, sees this as a promising sign.

      Andrea Stella: "Judging by the results and the level of our competitiveness overall, we are seeing signs of some progress. I believe it is related to the fact that we are already managing to extract a bit more from the car, including through setup, but most importantly, we have learned to use the power unit more effectively.

      As we have always said, there are significant challenges associated with operating the new generation power units, but gradually we are understanding their characteristics better and tuning them more effectively together with the engineers from HPP (High Performance Powertrains – Mercedes' engine division). Thanks to this, we are managing to improve our lap times.

      A positive aspect is that in qualifying we competed with Ferrari, but still, that team is a step ahead of us. The Scuderia has already shown that during the race their cars are capable of a high pace, but if we can indeed fight with Ferrari for a podium, I would be pleasantly surprised.

      This weekend we achieved certain improvements, so we can certainly aim for a good result. But in racing, anything can happen. And although we potentially intend to fight for a podium, we understand that we need to upgrade the car, primarily through the introduction of new developments.

      Such plans have already been made with an eye on the next stage of the season. This will allow us to consistently fight for the podium, and hopefully, at a later stage of the season, for victories as well.

      We do not deny that there are areas where we definitely need to improve. This concerns the reliability of the equipment, primarily the recurring issues with the battery pack supplied by HPP, and today Lando's car had to be fitted with the third energy storage unit during the 3rd practice session. We are working to stabilize the situation and are currently investigating whether it is possible to restore the second battery."