Oscar Piastri: “There is only one car to overtake.”
Oscar Piastri has every reason to be over the moon right now. After being extended until 2026 by McLaren and receiving praise from his teammate, here he is starting the Japanese Grand Prix in second position.
Oscar Piastri is definitely a driver who likes to go fast in his progression. After sweeping everything in his path in the feeder series, many fans and observers feared that the meteor Piastri would disintegrate upon entering the atmosphere of the elite. This disintegration never happened. As his car improved from race to race, the young rookie gained confidence and experience. This increase in power now allows him to start on the front row for the first time in his career.
The first round was pretty good. I’m generally satisfied with it, but I lost a bit of time at the last chicane, so it’s a shame. The first sector of my second round was okay, but the two that followed were not great. Being 2nd today confirms our good start to the weekend. I hope we’ll have good chances to keep this second place.
Although he never publicly declared it, there is no doubt that Oscar Piastri must have been frustrated to see his garage neighbor on the podium in Singapore thanks to the latest upgrades, while he remained with the old version of the car. He could only manage a 7th place finish. As the upgrades have been proven to provide a significant improvement in the pace of the MCL36, the Australian driver has also been equipped with them at Suzuka. With both drivers on equal machinery, it was important for Piastri to show that he could compete with Lando Norris. Especially in qualifying, an area in which the British driver has largely dominated this year (Piastri has only beaten Norris in qualifying 4 times).
« It’s been a long time since I haven’t left from the first position so it’s nice. There’s only one car to overtake in front so I’ll do my best. »
Despite this statement on Jean Alesi’s microphone, there are few chances that the MCL36 will have the pace tomorrow to challenge Max Verstappen’s RB19. Keeping Sergio Perez behind already looks like a tough task, despite the fact that the Mexican only starts in 5th position. If Oscar Piastri were to pass the two-time world champion at the start, a scenario similar to Silverstone where the Dutchman regains his position as soon as the DRS is activated is the most likely.
Regardless, Oscar Piastri has a strong chance at Suzuka to etch his name in Formula 1 history and secure the inaugural podium of his career.
