McLaren tried to dummy Red Bull at the only round of pit stops at the Japanese Grand Prix, bait which Red Bull did not take.

And that is because, as claimed by Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, McLaren’s move “didn’t make any sense” in terms of the impact it would have had on their race if they had actually pitted.

McLaren Suzuka dummy pit stop: No fooling Red Bull

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was first to pit from P3 out of the leading trio, covering Mercedes’ George Russell behind, with leader Max Verstappen and Lando Norris in the sister McLaren pitting the following lap, that setting the scene for a dicey moment for Norris who ended up on the grass as he and Verstappen battled for track position at the pit exit.

But, before any of the leaders had boxed, Norris had been told over the radio “box to overtake Verstappen”, that followed by a “stay out”, as McLaren came up short in their efforts to spook Red Bull’s strategists.

As it turns out, Red Bull saw right through that plan.

Speaking after the race, Horner said: “It was clear that pit stops were approaching. McLaren elected to pit Oscar first. But prior to that, they called a dummy with Lando.

“That really to us, didn’t make any sense, because he would just come out in traffic.

“So we stuck to our guns. We didn’t react to the dummy. They then pitted Oscar, and it was clear that they were going to pit Lando the following lap. So it was then a matter of covering Lando.”

Key talking points after the Japanese Grand Prix

👉 McLaren’s strategy indecision is the biggest threat to their title chances

👉 Lando Norris issues Red Bull warning as pitlane incident verdict offered

With Red Bull ticking off that objective – even if it was closer than they would have liked after a slightly slow stop for Verstappen – the reigning four-time World Champion continued to keep McLaren at arm’s length and raced on to a first win of the F1 2025 campaign.

It was a performance from Verstappen which Horner waxed lyrical about, and a win which is set to boost the Red Bull team.

“What a great race. An incredible race for Max,” Horner reflected. “Great for the team.

“I think the majority of the hard work was done yesterday, when you look at, I guess, 90 per cent of the cars finished in the order that they started in.

“But it was a flat out sprint race today. There was very low degradation. We know the McLarens are very, very fast, and it needed Max to be inch perfect with two very fast McLarens right behind him. And for 53 laps, he made not a single mistake, and had the pace to cover them, keep them out of his DRS.

“He was particularly strong in Turn 11 and the last quarter to keep that vital second gap, and had enough to cover whatever they could throw at us today.

“So a huge win, particularly here in Japan, running the car in a Honda livery, and thanks to the partnership that we’ve enjoyed so far with them.

“But you know, there’s no bigger motivator than winning, and so the injection of motivation that this sort of provided to the whole team is fantastic.”

Verstappen trimmed Norris’ Drivers’ Championship lead from eight points to just one with that result ahead of next weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix.

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