After having another positive weekend in Malaysia where Stoffel Vandoorne finished in seventh place, the McLaren Honda team have built up good momentum heading to Honda's home grand prix in Japan this coming weekend.
Many drivers mention Suzuka as one of their favourite circuits, and I think this is because it has both technical and power-hungry features. For engineers, it's a very exciting track as they are able to show their ability in terms of finding the perfect set-up, although they also find it very challenging.
The balance of the car will be very important, so Honda will need to make sure they set up the drivability in accordance with McLaren's chassis requirements.
For Stoffel however, coming off the back of two good races, he is eager to see if he can continue the trend in Japan…
“After two really positive races, I'm really looking forward to heading back to Japan. It's one of my favourite countries and I always enjoy spending time there. The culture, food and people make it really special, and for a long time I've been looking forward to experiencing the Suzuka circuit in a Formula 1 car for the first time,” he said.
“For me, Singapore and Malaysia were a real boost, and we were really able to get on top of every session and maximise what we had available in our package. We know there has been potential all season, but for one reason or another we weren't able to show it – so having two strong results back-to-back has been really encouraging and I'm keen to see how we will do in Japan.”
“It's a much tougher circuit for our car than Sepang, and requires a lot more outright power. The advantage is that I won't be coming to this circuit fresh this weekend, as I've tested and raced at Suzuka a few times before – the last time I was there I won in Super Formula. I'm working very hard with my engineers and we'll be putting in the same level of preparation for this race, so I hope we can keep pushing forward and have another strong weekend.”
This will also be Honda's last Japanese Grand Prix as McLaren Honda, therefore it will be a special race for the team.
