Oscar Piastri surprised McLaren by masking the MCL40’s two main flaws in the Japanese Grand Prix

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McLaren were surprised by the strong pace that Oscar Piastri showed when driving in clear air during the 2026 Japanese Grand Prix, en route to finishing second at Suzuka.

Piastri scored his first podium finish of the 2026 F1 season in Japan on Sunday, after he also started his first Grand Prix this term. The 24-year-old did not start in Australia after crashing on his reconnaissance laps and in China because of an issue with his battery from Mercedes.

Having even led the Japanese GP until a safety car handed Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli the lead at Suzuka, Piastri joked that McLaren are “pretty good” when they start a race. The Melbourne native had resisted George Russell rather comfortably until the Lap 22 safety car.

Piastri had built a small but manageable lead over Russell before McLaren pitted their driver from the lead of the Japanese GP at the end of Lap 18 of 53. Russell also emerged 1.9s from Piastri when he pitted on L21, shortly before Oliver Bearman’s crash triggered the safety car.

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Oscar Piastri’s race pace in clear air around Suzuka surprised McLaren

While Antonelli had the pace to pull a 13.722s lead over Piastri to win the Japanese GP after the safety car restart on Lap 28, the Australian again had the pace to hold Russell off. Piastri also held Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc off by a margin of 1.548s later in the race to finish P2.

READ MORE: When is the next race after F1 cancelled the Bahrain and Saudi Arabia rounds?

Piastri’s defensive driving against Russell in Japan pleased Jolyon Palmer, as he largely did not allow the Briton the chance to attempt an overtake. His pace in clear air also ‘surprised’ McLaren, who did not expect to be so quick during the race, according to Motorsport.com.

The McLaren MCL40 has a clear lack of downforce, partly due to the Woking squad deciding to design their car with a smaller floor than their rivals like Mercedes. Additionally, McLaren have encountered high levels of tyre wear in 2026 around more abrasive tracks than Suzuka.

McLaren score their first podium of 2026 at the Japanese Grand Prix!

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Suzuka’s newly resurfaced asphalt allowed Piastri to maintain a higher race pace, which also helped to mask the McLaren MCL40’s lack of downforce. So, while Piastri lost 0.3s per lap in the first sector to Antonelli, McLaren were positively surprised by how competitive he was.

McLaren are well aware that Piastri’s P2 finish in the Japanese GP does not show the MCL40 is ready to rival the Mercedes W17, or the Ferrari SF-26, at every track that F1 visits, though. So, McLaren hope the upgrades they have planned for the Miami Grand Prix deliver in May.

The break in the F1 calendar with the cancellations of the races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, originally scheduled for April, mean McLaren and their rival crews have until May 1-3 to plot upgrades that they can then unveil in Miami in an attempt to try to catch up with Mercedes.