Oscar Piastri optimistic on McLaren vs Mercedes: “They’re beatable, but the gap is big”. Oscar Piastri reflects on his second-place finish at the Japanese Grand Prix.

Performance at Suzuka

The latest Japanese Grand Prix ended with a solid 2nd place for Oscar Piastri. After missing two races due to different circumstances—an incident during the formation lap in Australia and a technical issue in China—he secured his first podium of the season behind Andrea Kimi Antonelli. The weekend had started perfectly for the Australian McLaren driver, who took the early lead thanks to a poor start from pole-sitter Antonelli.

Piastri led through the first stint, but luck turned against him when the Safety Car was deployed, benefiting the Bolognese Mercedes driver. After the pit stop, Antonelli returned to the track ahead of the field and maintained the race lead until the end. Despite finishing 2nd, Oscar Piastri admitted he had been surprised to resist pressure from George Russell’s Mercedes at the start, fearing the Englishman might overtake him within just half a lap.

Beating Mercedes: a realistic goal?

Nonetheless, the podium finish in Suzuka boosted the 24-year-old’s confidence for the upcoming races, to the point where he believes defeating Mercedes is possible. “Can they be beaten? Yes,” Oscar Piastri confirmed to RacingNews365. “We already knew last year—or rather, we’ve known for a while—that even with the best car, you need to drive it at an incredibly high level. I think in Japan we did an excellent job in that regard. It’s interesting to see that when someone else has the faster car, things aren’t so simple. Being able to keep George behind for so long was really encouraging.”

While optimistic about McLaren’s chances to challenge Mercedes, Oscar Piastri remains grounded: “Let’s not get carried away,” he concluded. “We did everything right over the weekend, but we were beaten by 15 seconds, so there’s still a significant gap to close. I’m confident we can do it, but yes, we still have work to do.”