Mercedes have won all three Grands Prix this season, as well as the China Sprint, but they did not record a 1-2 in Japan, with Oscar Piastri instead being winner Kimi Antonelli’s closest challenger – a result that the Australian has taken heart from after McLaren’s own shaky start to the year.
Reigning champions McLaren have struggled with both pace and reliability so far this season, with neither car able to start the Grand Prix in China due to different electrical issues. In Melbourne, Piastri was over eight tenths of a second behind George Russell in Qualifying.
That gap was down to under half a second in China when Antonelli took pole, and less than four tenths of a second in Japan, as McLaren chipped away at the gap.
Piastri was asked in Japan if Mercedes are beatable this season, and he was swift to respond.
“Yes,” he said. “I think we knew from last year, or we know from last year, that even when you have the best car you still need to operate it at an incredibly high level. And I think today on our side we did a really good job of that.
“But I think it’s interesting to see when someone else has the fastest car that it’s not that straightforward. And yeah, I think the fact that I could keep George [Russell] behind for so long was really encouraging.”
Piastri overtook both Mercedes cars at the start of the race in Japan, and held the lead until his first pit stop. In the first period of the race, while Piastri could not completely drop Russell, he certainly eased the pressure he was under and started to eke out a small gap over the Mercedes towards the end of the stint.
That won’t just give McLaren confidence, but will give Ferrari a boost too, after they were Mercedes’ closest challengers in both Australia and China.
“We’re under no illusion. We did everything right this weekend and we still got beaten by 15 seconds, so we’ve got a pretty big gap to fill,” cautioned Piastri.
“I’m confident that we can get there, but yes, we’ve still got some work to do.”
Of all the teams in F1, McLaren have had arguably the biggest success with in-season developments across the last few years.
In 2024, they started the year the fourth fastest team behind Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes, but a large development package introduced in Austria saw them win four of six races from Zandvoort onwards, helping to carry the team to their first [Constructors’ title] (https://www.formula1.com/en/results/2024/team) since 1998.
Likewise in 2025, they were able to develop their car enough to keep the might of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen at bay, and win both Championships.
McLaren also have the benefit of running the in-form Mercedes engine too, so if they can puzzle out how to get the best from that power unit, they could well take the fight to the Silver Arrows in 2026.
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