Oscar Piastri fires 'beatable' F1 warning to Mercedes

Oscar Piastri has expressed confidence that Mercedes can be beaten this year following the Brackley-based squad's lightning start to the campaign.

Mercedes were many people's pre-season favourites after showing strong pace during testing.

Its true pace was realised at the season-opening round in Australia, and it has won all three rounds held so far this year.

However, it faced its biggest test last time out in Japan, where Piastri managed to hold onto the lead for the opening stint, only falling behind when Kimi Antonelli benefitted from a well-timed pit stop under safety car conditions.

Despite the race loss, it has instilled confidence in Piastri and McLaren that it can race at the front of the field this year.

When asked if he thinks Mercedes is beatable this year, Piastri told media including RacingNews365: “Yes.

“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 [in Japan] on our side we did a really good job of that.

“It’s interesting to see when someone else has the fastest car that it’s not that straightforward.

“The fact that I could keep George behind for so long was really encouraging.”

McLaren entered the year as the double reigning champions but has been unable to be a consistent fixture at the head of the pack so far this year.

Having received a boost last time out in Suzuka, Piastri insisted there is a lot of work ahead of McLaren in order to return to a position of being a regular challenger for race wins.

“But we’re under no illusion,” he said.

“We did everything right this weekend and we still got beaten by 15 seconds, so we’ve got a pretty big gap to fill. 

“I’m confident that we can get there, but yes, we’ve still got some work to do.”