Oscar Piastri puts Mercedes on alert as McLaren make significant step

Oscar Piastri has placed Mercedes on alert by insisting McLaren is "getting closer" after a positive qualifying performance at the Japanese Grand Prix.

Piastri secured McLaren’s first top-three start of the season after claiming third on the grid, behind another Mercedes one-two.

Kimi Antonelli breezed to pole at Suzuka, while championship leader George Russell was only 0.056s quicker than Piastri, representing a boost for McLaren.

The Australian has looked quick all weekend but is aware that competing with the Silver Arrows duo is currently not possible, although noted McLaren's deficit is shrinking.

"Yeah, I think qualifying has been okay this year, but nice to get into the top three," Piastri said immediately after qualifying. "I think this weekend we've looked good. 

"I think we've executed well. We clearly don't have the pace or the grip to match Mercedes still, but we're getting closer, which is the most important part."

Piastri did well to secure a place on the front of the second row, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc also looking very competitive in qualifying.

At one stage, the 24-year-old thought the Scuderia were even in the fight for pole, but he was pleased to end up ahead of Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.

"I think it was pretty well executed," Piastri said in the post-qualifying press conference. "The final lap of Q3 was a bit of a mess, but apart from that, I think we built into things well.

"I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted from the car after FP3, and I think we did a good job of achieving that. And then also how you have to drive—yeah, you’ve got to do some interesting things.

"So I think just staying disciplined on that worked well. And, yeah, I’m happy to have ended up where we are. Everyone seemed to chop and change a bit through qualifying. We didn’t look great in Q1, and then in Q2 we came alive and managed to hold that pace.

"I thought the Ferraris were going to be on pole at one point, so it was all a bit of a mixed bag, but I’m happy to end up in P3."