Team principal Andrea Stella opened up about Oscar Piastri finally having a strong race weekend in 2026, how well he is coping with setbacks in comparison to last season, and McLaren’s upcoming upgrades following the Australian’s second-place finish at the F1 Japanese GP on Sunday.
Setting a lap time of 1:29.132 in the final segment of qualifying, Piastri proved to be the Mercedes duo’s closest competitor in third for McLaren. He missed out on the front row by only 0.056 seconds on Saturday.
The 24-year-old had an excellent start as the light went out at Suzuka, and he translated P3 into the lead before arriving at Turn 1. He survived sustained pressure from George Russell in the early exchanges, even losing and regaining the lead at the end of Lap 8.
Piastri pitted on Lap 18 to protect his advantage, swapping the medium compound for the hard tyres. However, Ollie Bearman’s massive crash three laps later and the deployment of the Safety Car put him at a disadvantage. It allowed Kimi Antonelli to make a cheaper stop from the lead and retain his position.
Once the race restarted, the young Italian pulled away for a comfortable victory. Meanwhile, Piastri drove a clever race to maintain P2, keeping the opposition—first Lewis Hamilton and then Charles Leclerc—behind him.
Stella on F1 seeing the strongest version of Piastri so far at the 2026 Japanese GP
Speaking in a print media session after the F1 race, Andrea Stella reflected on Piastri’s need for a strong finish at the 2026 Japanese GP since he was unable to start the full-length races in Melbourne and Shanghai.
Referring to the pace he had demonstrated during pre-season testing and the previous practice and qualifying sessions, Stella maintained that Piastri is bringing his strongest version yet to the track despite the mishaps he encountered in the first two rounds of the campaign.
Moreover, the McLaren team boss commended Piastri’s approach and fortitude and emphasised how the Australian was finally able to showcase his improvement as an individual and a driver at Suzuka on Sunday.
“I talked extensively about Oscar [Piastri] already in the FIA press conference. I said there that despite Oscar not having started the two main races at the start of the 2026 season, based on what we have seen in testing, in practise, in qualifying, based on his overall attitude and mental strength, I think we are seeing the best version of Oscar, the strongest Oscar since he has been in F1.
“And I think today, finally, he has had an opportunity to demonstrate it, and he has done it in its full extent.”
How Piastri has inspired the team despite his setbacks
Andrea Stella also shared his insights on whether Piastri is coping better than he would have done this time last year. Admitting that the failure to start one’s home race following an avoidable incident can weigh a driver down, he revealed how the nine-time race winner has channelled his own disappointment into serving as a source of motivation for McLaren.
Explaining that a charismatic leader can lift up the spirits of a team, Stella acknowledged the role Piastri has played to galvanise the Woking-based squad during these trying times following their first podium finish of the 2026 F1 season at the Japanese GP.
“Having gone through two races, especially the home race, where you are not in a condition to start, for a situation that was completely avoidable, can really bog you down.
“But if anything, I think we have seen his [Piastri’s] steadiness, his strength, and the strength that he has been able to pass on to the team.
“Because the team gets a lot of inspiration from the charismatic leadership that the drivers can offer, and that has been definitely a boost for the entire team to go through the adversities.”
Stella on McLaren’s future upgrades following the 2026 Japanese GP
Applauding Piastri for how he tackled his poor start to the season head on and proved his mettle at the 2026 Japanese GP, Andrea Stella stated that the responsibility now falls on McLaren to further develop their latest F1 challenger and make it good enough to contend for wins.
Highlighting the noticeably strong pace Piastri showed on Sunday and the potential of securing a victory without the ill-timed Safety Car, the Italian disclosed that they were quite surprised with their own performance at Suzuka.
Furthermore, Stella touched on the upgrade packages that are currently in the pipeline and added that McLaren have to work on the MCL40’s chassis and gain a couple of tenths in order to challenge Mercedes for wins on a regular basis.
“So, really, well done to Oscar for the way he has been facing this start of the season.
“And now it is the responsibility of McLaren and the team to offer Lando [Norris] and Oscar once again a car that can compete for victories.
“I think today we were surprised ourselves, honestly, that we were in a condition to win. I think if we want to be in this condition in the future consistently, we will have to improve the chassis by a few tenths of a second. And that is the aim that we have in relation to bringing upgrades to the coming races.”
