Piastri confident: “Mercedes beatable? Yes, but we have a big gap to fill”

The performance in 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 warm-up lap in Australia and a technical problem in China) obtained his first podium of the season behind Andrea Kimi Antonelli. A performance which, moreover, began with an excellent start for the Australian from McLaren, who took command of the race by taking advantage of a bad start from Antonelli himself, who took pole position. Remaining in the lead until the first stint, luck turned its back on the #81, with the entry of the Safety Car onto the track which favored the Mercedes driver from Bologna, who after the pit stop returned ahead of everyone and remained leader of the race until the end. However, after the 2nd place finish, Piastri said he was surprised to have resisted the pressure of Russell’s other Mercedes at the start, fearing that he might be overtaken by the Englishman even after half a lap. Overtaking the Mercedes: is it a possible goal? Instead, the satisfaction with the podium achieved in Suzuka has increased the 24-year-old’s confidence for the next races, to the point that he believes it is possible to defeat the Mercedes: “Can it 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 that in Japan we did an excellent job in this sense. It is interesting to see that when someone else has the fastest car, things they’re not that simple. The fact that I was able to keep George behind for so long was really encouraging.” Although he considers himself optimistic about the chances of overtaking the Mercedes, Piastri still intends to remain with his feet on the ground: “Let’s not have any illusions – he concluded – we did everything well over the weekend, but we were beaten by 15 seconds, so we have a big gap to fill. I’m confident that we can do it, but yes, we still have work to do”.