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Jolyon Palmer was thoroughly impressed with the way Oscar Piastri managed to fend off George Russell at Suzuka.
Piastri managed to secure a P2 finish at the 2026 Japanese Grand Prix, a brilliant result after his poor start to the season.
Oscar Piastri missed the first two races, having to watch Mercedes earn all the accolades from the McLaren garage.
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McLaren seemed to have the edge over Mercedes for much of the weekend, even with Kimi Antonelli managing to win at Suzuka.
Antonelli himself admitted he got lucky against Piastri. Unfortunately, his teammate, George Russell, was not as lucky against the Australian driver.
READ MORE: Andrea Stella admits McLaren kept Lando Norris ‘on the back foot’ at Japanese Grand Prix
Jolyon Palmer lauds Oscar Piastri’s handling of George Russell battle
On the Channel 4 coverage of the Japanese Grand Prix, Jolyon Palmer took note of the brilliant way Oscar Piastri managed to take his position back from George Russell.
After Russell took the lead on lap eight, Piastri didn’t wait long to use his harvested power to quickly take the position back, cleverly coaxing the Mercedes driver into a futile move.
“I think that was pretty clever from Piastri. You have three opportunities to make an overtake… If you don’t overtake at the last opportunity, which is into Turn 1, it’s then difficult to sweep through anywhere here…
“But if you don’t overtake into Turn 1, you always run the risk of being repassed, as Piastri did. The way that Russell started to catch him through 130R, you can see Piastri was just harvesting energy…
“He doesn’t even fight that down the inside because he knows, ‘if he comes through, I will absolutely repass you down the next straight’, and it’s not even a fight as Oscar just waves straight through.”
“That’s a great exit out of the 18th and final corner for Oscar Piastri, who is fighting brilliantly against a Mercedes machine that has just been superlative in the new ruleset.”
McLaren score their first podium of 2026 at the Japanese Grand Prix!
How many will they grab in total this season?
READ MORE: Alex Wurz suspects that F1 cost cap is ‘the main factor’ behind McLaren’s 2026 struggles
Oscar Piastri showing he can cause problems for Mercedes this season
Oscar Piastri’s performance at the Japanese Grand Prix will give McLaren a huge boost in confidence after a poor start to the season.
While a McLaren strategy error cost Piastri the race win, his ability to secure P2 in his first race this season showed that the team can compete with Mercedes and Ferrari.
Even Toto Wolff admitted McLaren have caught up with them, posing a real problem for them as the season goes on.
If McLaren’s issues with the Mercedes power unit are behind them, then the reigning champions can begin their title defence in earnest.
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