Oscar Piastri claimed his first podium of the 2026 campaign with a runner-up finish at the Japanese Grand Prix.

He finished behind Mercedes championship leader Kimi Antonelli at Suzuka on Sunday.

## What happened at the Japanese Grand Prix?

Oscar Piastri had a brilliant getaway from third on the grid, putting him in the lead on lap one.

The safety car on lap 23 following Oliver Bearman's crash dropped Piastri to second.

## Why it matters for Oscar Piastri

This was a much-needed positive weekend for Piastri, who made his first grand prix start of 2026 after crashing out in Melbourne and failing to start in Shanghai.

Oscar Piastri labelled the Japanese Grand Prix as 'one of his best weekends in Formula 1'.

He is now sixth in the championship, having also taken sixth in the China sprint.

## What comes next for McLaren?

McLaren suffered a sluggish start to its title defence, sitting behind Mercedes and Ferrari in the pecking order.

Oscar Piastri expects the picture to remain the same, claiming that beating those cars at Suzuka was a "pleasant surprise".

Lando Norris had reliability issues en route to fifth.

Oscar Piastri did a really good job of operating the car at an incredibly high level.

But he thinks it's interesting to see when someone else has the fastest car that it's not that straightforward.

Oscar Piastri was able to keep George Russell behind for a long time, which was really encouraging.

However, McLaren still got beaten by 15 seconds, so they have a pretty big gap to fill.

Oscar Piastri is confident that they can get there, but they've still got some work to do.

The Australian driver finished the Japanese Grand Prix on October 2026 with a 1:18.111 fastest lap.

Oscar Piastri's performance at the Japanese Grand Prix was a positive sign for McLaren.

And it showed that if they get everything right, they can cause a few headaches.

But for now, they need to focus on finding more performance and reliability.

Oscar Piastri's next challenge will be to build on this momentum and secure more podium finishes.

So the question is, can Oscar Piastri and McLaren maintain this level of performance?

Only time will tell, but for now, they can enjoy this runner-up finish at the Japanese Grand Prix.

Oscar Piastri's result at the Japanese Grand Prix was a dated statistic that will be remembered for a long time.