The performance at Suzuka
The last Japanese Grand Prix ended with a convincing 2nd place for Oscar Piastri, who after the two races in which he did not take part for different reasons (an accident on the formation lap in Australia and a technical problem in China) obtained his first podium of the season behind Andrea Kimi Antonelli. A performance that, moreover, had started with an excellent start for the McLaren Australian, who had taken the lead of the race by exploiting a bad start by Antonelli himself, who started from pole position.
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Having remained in the lead until the first stint, luck turned its back on #81, with the entry of the Safety Car onto the track favoring the Mercedes driver from Bologna, who after the pit stop returned ahead of everyone and remained the race leader until the end. However, after the final 2nd place, Piastri said he was surprised to have resisted the pressure from the other Mercedes of Russell at the start, fearing he could be overtaken by the Englishman even after half a lap.
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Overtaking the Mercedes: a possible goal?
Instead, the satisfaction for the podium achieved at Suzuka has increased the 24-year-old’s confidence for the upcoming races, to the point of believing it is possible to defeat the Mercedes: “Can they be beaten? Yes – he confirmed to RacingNews365 – we already knew from last year, or rather, we already knew from last year, that even with the best car you have to know how to drive it at an incredibly high level. I think we did a great job in that sense in Japan. It’s interesting to see that when someone else has the fastest car, things aren’t that simple. The fact that I managed to keep George behind for so long was really encouraging“. As optimistic as he is about the chances of overtaking the Mercedes, Piastri still intends to keep his feet on the ground: “Let’s not have any illusions – he concluded – we did everything right over the weekend, but we were beaten by 15 seconds, so we have a significant gap to close. I am confident that we can do it, but yes, we still have work to do“.
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