Free to race his team-mate but not assisted by McLaren, Oscar Piastri says he needed “another 100 metres” on the straights to build up the speed advantage to attack the lead McLaren.

Lando Norris and Piastri ran second and third behind Max Verstappen for much of the Japanese Grand Prix, the team-mates unable to get the jump on the pole-sitter off the line.

Oscar Piastri: Clearly the team were happy…

On a track where overtaking is not easy, the trio were separated by two seconds at the line and yet none of them were able to attack for position.

Piastri urged McLaren to help him in the closing laps as he sat on Norris’ rear wing, but the team opted not to issue a team order.

“If Lando is still saving, I think he should go soon,” Piastri said over the radio. “I think I have the pace to get Max.”

Told that “this is Lando’s pace”, he reiterated: “Okay, like I said, I think I have the pace to get Max.”

McLaren didn’t order Norris to move over and although Piastri got within 0.6 seconds of his team-mate, he didn’t attempt a pass either. He eventually crossed the line seven-tenths behind the Briton.

F1 2025 head-to-head stats

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

Asked about the radio communication with the team, he downplayed it.

“There wasn’t much to be honest,” said the Australian driver. “For me, I felt like I had really strong pace and felt like if I had the track position I could go and get Max.

“But that’s what happens when you qualify behind, unfortunately.

“So yeah, I at least asked the question and I think that was a fair response. I think it was a good race, and that’s how we want to go racing.”

The question was raised again in the post-race press conference, Piastri asked if he felt he had a ‘realistic’ chance at attacking Verstappen for the lead had Norris given him the track position.

“I said what I felt,” he replied. “Clearly the team were happy with the way things were. I mean, if I was in Lando’s position, I would also be pretty happy with the way things were. So that’s fine. Just said what I felt in the car and yeah, that’s how we want to go racing.”

But could he have overtaken his team-mate on merit and without McLaren’s help?

“It was too difficult,” Piastri acknowledged. “I think I needed the straight to be about another 100 metres longer and then maybe I could’ve had a small chance. But I got close a couple of times, but never close enough to do anything realistically.

“So yeah, I feel like I had strong pace, but just not quite enough to be able to do anything. And yeah, with the dirty air, once you get so close, it’s very difficult to stay so close. So yeah, I think the chance of anything happening realistically was pretty slim.”

Piastri is third in the Drivers’ Championship, 13 points behind championship leader Norris.

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