Oscar Piastri Admits “It’s a Shame” He Didn’t Win the Japanese GP

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri has shared his thoughts on losing the 2026 F1 Japanese GP to Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli.

Oscar Piastri Admits “It’s a Shame” He Didn’t Win the Japanese GP

Oscar Piastri (Via @OscarPiastri/X)

Coming into this weekend’s race at Suzuka, Oscar Piastri had one goal, redeem himself by finishing a full-race for the first time in 2026. But after securing podium in the qualifying session, the No:81 Mclaren driver has his eyes set on race victory. He had a strong start to the race, as he took the lead, taking advantage of pole sitter Kimi Aontonelli’s misfortune on lap one.

The Aussie was able to keep the race lead, despite an aggressive George Rusell gave him a run for his money. But juts a couple of laps after he pitted, Hass’ Oliver Beraman wrecked into the wall and brought out a safety car.  This gave Antonelli a free pit-stop, which the young Italian took full advantage to win. The McLaren driver feels if not for the SC, he would have been the race winner.

We’re alright once we get to the start.  It would have been really interesting to see what happened without that, and I think I could have kept George behind and just behind the stops, we were actually pulling away a little bit.

Oscar Piastri said after the race.

Talking about this disappointment, after finishing over 13 seconds behind Kimi Antonelli, McLaren driver Oscar Piastri asserted that it was shame that he didn’t get a fair shot at winning the title. Regardless he is really happy about finally finishing a race in the 2026 season and that to in the front row.

So, it is a shame that we never got to see what would have happened, but for us at this point to be disappointed about finishing second is a pretty good place to be.

Oscar Piastri added via RN365.

In the same conversation later, the McLaren driver credited his team for the strong performance. He asserted that if they didn’t execute the race well, he would have secured a podium. Piastri is looking for the opportunity to be more competitive when F1 racing returns in May.

A massive thanks to the team, we did a really good job of executing with what we had, so clearly we need to find a bit of performance, but we took every opportunity we had today.

Oscar Piastri asserted.

Oscar Piastri knew McLaren was still slower than Mercedes coming into Suzuka

The probability of McLaren winning the race wasn’t as high as Oscar Paistri explained, as Gorge Russell and Kimi Antonelli had clear pace advantage. It was pretty evident in the qualifying session, which the racer himself admitted, while asserting they are slowly closing the gap.

Oscar Piastri (via IMAGO)
Oscar Piastri (via IMAGO)

I think qualifying has been okay this year, but nice to get into the top three. I think this weekend we’ve looked good, and I think we’ve executed well. We clearly don’t have the pace or the grip to match Mercedes still, but we’re getting closer, which is the most important point.

Oscar Piastri said.

The McLaren team has the whole month of April ahead of the to reduce that gap after the momentum building races, as the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian GPs are cancelled due to middle east war. It would be interesting to see if Oscar Paistri can take his revenge on Antonelli next race weekend at Miami.

Also Read: Kimi Antonelli Is “on a Good Way” to Win 2026 F1 World Championship After Japanese GP Triumph