McLaren's Oscar Piastri finished second at the Japanese Grand Prix, his first race start of the 2026 Formula 1 season following crashes and mechanical issues in the opening rounds. Team principal Andrea Stella called it the 'best version' of the Australian driver seen in F1, while Piastri hailed one of his strongest weekends despite finishing behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli.
Oscar Piastri endured a frustrating start to the 2026 season, missing the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne due to a reconnaissance lap crash and sitting out China with an MCL40 mechanical failure before the start. At Suzuka, the McLaren driver finally took the chequered flag in second after starting third on the grid and seizing the lead on lap one with a strong getaway.
A safety car on lap 23, triggered by Oliver Bearman’s crash, allowed Antonelli to pit cheaply and emerge ahead of Piastri, who had already stopped. Piastri held second to the finish, keeping George Russell at bay for much of the race, though Antonelli pulled away by 15 seconds after the restart. Teammate Lando Norris scored fifth amid reliability troubles.
Over the radio at the flag, Piastri joked, 'It turns out if we start this thing, it’s pretty good.' He later described the weekend as 'probably one of my best in F1,' praising the team's setup, start, pace, boost management, and strategy. 'We couldn’t have done any better than that,' he added, now sixth in the drivers' standings after a sixth in the China sprint.
Stella lauded Piastri's mental strength: 'Despite Oscar not having started the two main races at the start of the 2026 season... I think we have seen the best version of Oscar, the strongest Oscar since he's been in Formula 1.' He highlighted the pain of missing Piastri's home race and the driver's opportunity seized in Japan.
Defending constructors' champions McLaren rank third, nearly 90 points behind leader Mercedes despite sharing the same power unit. Stella stressed the need for chassis upgrades to gain 'a few tenths' for a victory-contending car for Norris and Piastri. Sky Sports F1's Karun Chandhok noted McLaren's 'massive step forward,' with Piastri proving they can compete with track position at tracks like Suzuka, though Mercedes showed superior race pace in clear air.
The next race is in Miami after a month-long break, following cancellations of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabia Grands Prix.
