Andrea Stella admits McLaren surprised itself as Oscar Piastri denied Suzuka win chance

Andrea Stella says McLaren’s competitiveness in Suzuka even surprised itself, but it’s impossible to know if the Safety Car cost Oscar Piastri victory.

Piastri took the lead at the start of the Japanese Grand Prix and looked as though he had the pace to keep Mercedes’ George Russell behind him.

Andrea Stella says McLaren surprised itself in Suzuka performance

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McLaren’s difficult start to the F1 2026 season came to an end in Japan, with both cars making the start for the first time this year.

Following Oscar Piastri’s reconnaissance lap crash-out in Australia, and the power unit issues that prevented him and Lando Norris from starting the Chinese Grand Prix, the Woking squad enjoyed a much more competitive race weekend at Suzuka.

Team boss Andrea Stella had said earlier in the weekend that his team was benefitting from an increased collaboration with Mercedes HPP engineers, allowing for a better understanding of how to use the power unit, and this increased knowledge base seemed to pay off as Piastri controlled proceedings through the first stint.

The Australian snatched the lead as the two Mercedes drivers struggled to get off the line and, despite the close attentions of George Russell, Piastri looked to be able to keep the British driver behind him, even taking to the team radio to suggest that he could handle whatever the Mercedes driver tried on-track.

The risk was around the pitstop timing, and McLaren opted to keep track position by going for the undercut by bringing Piastri in on Lap 18, with Mercedes responding with Russell on Lap 21.

However, the timing of a Safety Car intervention on Lap 22 benefitted Kimi Antonelli to gift the Italian driver the lead, with Piastri thus having to settle for second place.

“It’s a very positive day overall for the team,” Stella said after the race, in which McLaren took a double points finish as Norris clinched fifth place.

“We were in condition to start the race with two cars, which is the first time this year, and we were in condition to complete the race.

“I think, today, we confirmed the progress that we saw yesterday in qualifying, progress that allowed Oscar to lead the race after a very good start.”

Vaulting up to the extent that securing a maiden podium ahead of Ferrari, who were clearly the second-quickest team in the first two race weekends, Stella said that Piastri’s pace in the first stint had even been unexpected on the pitwall.

“We were surprised ourselves, especially at the end of the first stint, where we not only were able to keep Russell behind, but we were also opening the gap at the end of the first stint,” he said.

“So we thought that we should [pit] first so that we could retain the lead, because we wanted to give it a go at winning the race.”

More on the Japanese Grand Prix

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However, with the Safety Car hampering Piastri and Russell and benefiting Antonelli, Stella said there was no way of telling whether Piastri could have won the race without that disruption.

“We will never know whether, without the Safety Car, it would have been possible or not,” he said.

“I think it would have been possible against Russell, because we saw that Russell was struggling anyhow to overtake even Ferrari, and I think, today, McLaren and Ferrari were on a similar pace.

“Antonelli, though, had a faster pace than anybody else. So I think Antonelli, at some stage, would have been in the competition for the victory.

“So we will not know whether Oscar could have won the race or not. Ultimately, it doesn’t make a big difference.

“I think today, we should just take the positives. I think there are a lot of positives for Oscar himself; he has been driving very well at the start of the season.

“It’s a shame that he has not been conditioned to prove it and demonstrate it. Today, he had the chance, and he did it.”

Piastri himself couldn’t gauge whether or not victory would have been his had it not been for the Safety Car, suggesting that Antonelli’s pace was such that it would have been very difficult.

“I would have loved to have seen how it would have panned out,” he said.

“I think I need to look back and see whether Kimi was quicker than George or at a similar pace.

“I think if he were the same pace as George, then it would have been a pretty stressful afternoon because I probably would have had both of them right on my gearbox.

“But yeah, I mean, I think once Kimi had clean air, clearly, he was a lot faster than me. So, I’m not sure we would have won the race, but I certainly would have loved to have found out.”

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