McLaren have had a very difficult start to the 2026 Formula 1 season, with problems both in performance and reliability. In the opening race in Australia, Oscar Piastri was more than eight tenths of a second slower than George Russell in qualifying, showing a clear gap to the front. Things got even worse in China, where neither McLaren car was able to start the race due to different electrical issues. At the same time, Mercedes made a perfect start, winning every race and looking like the clear team to beat.

However, McLaren began to turn things around at the Japanese Grand Prix. At Suzuka, Piastri qualified in third place and made an excellent start, overtaking Kimi Antonelli to take the lead into the first corner. He stayed in front during the opening stint and was able to keep Russell behind him for a long time, which was an important sign of progress for the team.

After the race, Piastri made it clear that he still believes Mercedes can be challenged this season. “Yes,” he said when asked if they are beatable. “I think we know from last year that even when you have the best car, you still need to operate it at an incredibly high level. And I think on our side we did a really good job of that.”

He also explained that having the fastest car does not guarantee easy wins. “It’s interesting to see that when someone else has the fastest car, it’s not that straightforward,” he said. “And yeah, the fact that I could keep George behind for so long was really encouraging.”

McLaren’s progress can also be seen in the lap time gap. From more than eight tenths in Australia, the difference dropped to under half a second in China, and then to less than four tenths in Japan. This steady improvement has given the team more confidence that they are moving in the right direction.

Even so, Piastri remains realistic about the situation. “We’re under no illusion,” he said. “We did everything right this weekend and we still got beaten by 15 seconds, so we’ve got a pretty big gap to fill.” He added that there is still a lot of work ahead. “I’m confident that we can get there, but yes, we’ve still got some work to do.”