Oscar Piastri delivers honest McLaren verdict after struggles

Oscar Piastri has hailed his podium in the Japanese Grand Prix as “as good as a win”, following McLaren’s tricky start to the season.

For the first time in 2026, Piastri actually made the start of a race, having crashed on his reconnaissance lap in Australia and been pushed off the grid in China.

Not only did the Australian driver make the start, but he led into the first corner, following a tremendous getaway which saw him breeze past Kimi Antonelli and George Russell.

Piastri led the opening stages and was confident he could win if he remained ahead of Russell after the pair pitted.

He did just that; however, a safety car shortly afterwards allowed Antonelli to make a cheap pit stop, promoting him into the lead and Piastri into second.

Second place is where the 24-year-old ultimately finished, marking not only a strong result but one that felt like a victory.

Asked what aspect of the MCL60 pleased him the most, Piastri said: "I’m not sure there was one that I was massively pleased with, but I think, clearly, we did a good job at the start.

"I think we just did a really good job of optimising what we had, and from practice we were in a good window with the car in FP2, and we managed to get it back into that window for qualifying.

"We had a really good understanding of what we wanted from the power unit and how we had to kind of dial it in for the qualifying grip level. And then even in the race, I know that we did a lot of work on the starts.

"I think our starts through the practice sessions were really strong and, yeah, I think the pace was probably a positive surprise. I think having clean air probably helped quite a lot at the start, but we did a good job, and I could pull away from George a little bit right before the stops.

"And yes, I think the strategy was good as well. So I think we just nailed everything. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite enough for the win, but I think at the moment a result like this is as good as a win for us."