Oscar Piastri has joked that he hopes to “at least see the lights come on” at the Japanese Grand Prix after failing to start in both Australia and China this season, with the Australian also sharing an insight into how he has reacted to experiencing a back-to-back DNS.
Piastri’s tough run started at his home event in Melbourne, where the McLaren driver suffered a crash on his way to the grid that left him unable to participate in the event.
One week later in Shanghai, the 24-year-old made it to the grid but was wheeled into the garage before the formation lap due to a technical issue on the car, which ultimately could not be fixed in time for the start. In a double disappointment for the papaya squad, Piastri’s team mate Lando Norris was also unable to race after a separate problem on his MCL40.
Speaking during Thursday’s media day in Suzuka, Piastri was asked if one of his targets this weekend would be to simply take part in the Grand Prix, to which the nine-time race winner laughed: “That would be good, yes!
“It’s obviously not been the best start to the year, but we’ll try and at least see the lights come on this week and go from there. We kind of know where we sit in the pecking order, so we’re not expecting too many surprises there. Just executing a solid weekend would be good.”
Pushed on whether he was left feeling angry or upset in light of those two non-starts, Piastri insisted that he had instead tried to learn from the situation as much as possible.
“[There was] not really anger,” he conceded. “The first DNS, yes, there probably was some anger and disbelief and disappointment. I think after China, it is what it is – not everything works as well as you hope, there’s no point getting angry about it or too sad about it.
“I think unfortunately you can’t change anything, so all you can do is just focus on the next thing that’s in front of you and focus on how you can learn as much as you can in that situation.
“I tried to watch the race and see how the racing works, see where cars look good, see if there’s anything I can spot, and that’s all you can do, so for me that’s what I’ve tried to focus on.”
Despite his lack of racing experience in 2026, Piastri has not changed his approach in terms of trying to gain any extra time on the simulator, with the Australian explaining: “I think I’ve tried to learn as much as I can from watching the races.
“I think definitely the way we go racing now is pretty different, so [I’m] just trying to learn and pick up as many things as I can from watching that. But in terms of the simulator running, there’s nothing really extra you can do, so there’s not really an easy way to catch up apart from just trying to do your best in the races once we get there, so there’s nothing too different.”
And when asked what has to happen during the weekend in Japan for him to leave with a smile, Piastri answered: “Start the race, that would probably help! For me the first two races are what they’ve been – for me [it’s about] just trying to put in good performances, that’s all I can do.
“I’ve been happy with my Qualifying so far this year, and I think that’s been the biggest thing in my control, and I feel like I’ve adapted to the new cars and the new rules and my understanding of the rules I think is good.
“It’s just that I’ve not had any chance to show it in the race, and I think clearly the picture is that we’re behind Mercedes and Ferrari, so all I can do is just try my best and when I’m on track show what I can do.”
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