Oscar Piastri believes McLaren is getting “closer” to Mercedes after securing second-row start for 2026 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix.
Piastri is yet to run a single lap of a Grand Prix in 2026 but will take many positives from his qualifying effort at the Suzuka International Circuit, on Saturday.
The Australian secured a second-row start for the Woking-based outfit for the race on Sunday, missing out on splitting the Mercedes by just 0.056 seconds.
Throughout the opening two race weekends this year, McLaren have seemingly lagging behind the likes of Ferrari and Mercedes – in terms of both out-and-out pace and reliability.
That said, the 24-year-old rendered a telling insight into how the team is working hard to cut that gap by insisting that they are now catching up to the leading pack.
“I think qualifying has been okay this year, but nice to get into the top three,” he told Jean Alesi after qualifying.
“I think we’ve executed well. We clearly don’t have the pace or the grip to match Mercedes still, but we’re getting closer, which is the most important part.”
Oscar Piastri relieved after “mixed bag” Japanese GP qualifying
The Silver Arrows are still the benchmark of the field. Andrea Kimi Antonelli made it back-to-back pole positions for himself, and George Russell has maintained Mercedes’ streak of qualifying 1-2s by slotting in right behind the Italian.
Despite the small gap to Piastri behind, Russell was largely impeded by an unpredictable loss of rear balance on his W17, and not an outright pace deficit.
The McLaren driver is aware of these variables and believed his fight was with the Ferraris instead.
Even then, it was hard for Piastri to predict his fate in Q3 given how at one point it looked as though Charles Leclerc could have gunned for pole, too.
“I think it was pretty well executed,” he said. “The final lap of Q3 was a bit of a mess, but apart from that, I think we built into things well.
“I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted from the car after FP3, and I think we did a good job of achieving that.
“And then also how you have to drive—yeah, you’ve got to do some interesting things. So I think just staying disciplined on that worked well. And, yeah, I’m happy to have ended up where we are.
“Everyone seemed to chop and change a bit through qualifying. We didn’t look great in Q1, and then in Q2 we came alive and managed to hold that pace.
“I thought the Ferraris were going to be on pole at one point, so it was all a bit of a mixed bag, but I’m happy to end up in P3.”
Speaking later in the press conference, Piastri praised his team for a “well executed” session.
“I think it was pretty well executed. I think the final lap of Q3 was a bit of a mess, but apart from that I think we built into things well. I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted from the car after FP3 and I think we did a good job of achieving that, and then also how you have to drive.
“Yeah, you’ve got to do some interesting things, so I think just staying disciplined on that worked well and I’m happy to end up where we are. I think everyone seemed to chop and change a bit through qualifying. We didn’t look great in Q1 and then Q2 we came alive and managed to hold that pace.
“I thought the Ferraris were going to be on a par at one point, so it was all a bit of a mixed bag, but happy to end up third.
Could Oscar Piastri have taken pole position?
Asked if his MCL40 had more time left on the table, Piastri was pragmatic.
“Maybe a tiny bit, but it’s always impossible to know,” he said.
“I think especially with these cars, like Kimi said, it’s very easy to think you’re going faster and doing the right thing, and you end up going slower because the engine doesn’t like it. So, it’s a tricky balance, but I think it was pretty close to what we could have done.
“I mean, it’s nice to be closer, obviously. I think we’re learning more and more about the car and about the power unit every weekend. I think this weekend in Suzuka, let’s say being slower in the Esses than Mercedes is not necessarily a bad thing, which is weird to say.
“But yeah, I think we were saved a little bit by that. So, I think we’ve been more competitive in general, but we’re under no illusion, we’ve still got a pretty big gap to fill.
Piastri also believes that McLaren does not start the race on Sunday on the back foot, comfortable with the handling of the MCL40.
I mean, not necessarily,” he said,” but you don’t know what you don’t know until you’re in the situation.
“So yeah, I’ve tried to learn as much as I can from watching the races and even through practice. There have been some interesting moments with cars at different speeds in different parts of the track. I overtook someone into Degner 1 yesterday, which was different.
“But yeah, you’re learning all the time and I think just the level of awareness you need is very high. But I think ultimately pace is going to be the thing that decides your result, and the start as well. Well, maybe not the start if it’s these guys around you, but yeah, we’ll see what we can do.”
Heading into the race on Sunday, Piastri’s number one priority, however, would be able to get his first Grand Prix start logged in McLaren’s books.
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