Formula 1: Articles & News Reports.

[Fortitude]

Oscar Piastri: ‘We did everything right and still got beaten by 15 seconds’.
Piastri described the weekend as one of his best in Formula 1, crediting strong preparation across practice and qualifying as the foundation for McLaren’s result.
29 Mar 2026
Media
F1 Chronicle

• Oscar Piastri finished second at the 2026 Japanese Grand Prix, leading the race from the start before the Safety Car handed the advantage back to Kimi Antonelli.
• The Australian said he came away from Suzuka believing Mercedes are beatable, but was clear-eyed that a significant performance gap to the championship leader remains.
Second place at Suzuka was, by Oscar Piastri‘s own assessment, as close to a perfect weekend as McLaren could have produced.

The result still came up short, and he made no attempt to dress it up otherwise. From the front, Piastri was able to pull away from George Russell before the pit stops, a detail he returned to more than once as evidence of McLaren’s genuine competitiveness. When asked which aspect of the car’s performance pleased him most across the weekend, he was thorough.

“I’m not sure there was one that I was massively pleased with, but I think, clearly, we did a good job at the start today. I think this weekend we just did a really good job of optimising what we had, and I think from practice we were in a good window with the car in FP2 and we managed to get it back in that window for qualifying. We had a really good understanding of what we wanted from the power unit and how we had to kind of dial it in for the qualifying grip level.”

‘Close to a perfect weekend as McLaren could have produced’;

https://f1chronicle.com/oscar-piastr.../?nowprocket=1


Jacques Villeneuve blasts McLaren for making strategy error with ‘flying’ Oscar Piastri
29 Mar 2026
Aaditya Krishnamurthy
F1 Oversteer

Jacques Villeneuve was not a fan of how McLaren squandered the brilliant start Oscar Piastri made to the Japanese Grand Prix. Jacques Villeneuve questions why McLaren didn’t learn from Lando Norris pitstop. Jacques Villeneuve spoke on the F1 post-race show about the success McLaren had during the Japanese Grand Prix, and where exactly they went wrong.

More than the ill-timed safety car, Villeneuve questioned why McLaren chose to pit Oscar Piastri when they saw Lando Norris struggling on the hard tyres early on. “Yes, and it looked like Piastri could have stayed ahead in front. They were managing their batteries in different areas on the track. It doesn’t look like the Mercedes way was the right way in the race. It was good to do lap times, because once he was alone, he was flying, but not in a battle, not in the field.”

“So, the McLaren could have stayed ahead. What I did not understand is why pitting Piastri after having pitted Norris, the team should have realised that the new tyres didn’t work for two or three laps. So why don’t you read what’s already happened and wait an extra two or three laps because the undercut did not work. There was no point pitting first.”

‘Jacques Villeneuve blasts McLaren’;

https://www.f1oversteer.com/news/jac...oscar-piastri/


Heartbreak for Oscar Piastri as surprise Suzuka win slips away
29 Mar 2026
Michelle Foster
PlanetF1.com

Oscar Piastri believes McLaren’s disappointment at finishing second in Japan shows just how far the team has come, even if he did miss out on the victory. “It would have been really interesting to see what would have happened without that [the Safety Car],” he told 1996 world champion Damon Hill during the post-race parc ferme interviews.

“I thought I could keep George behind. And just before the stops we were actually pulling away a little bit again. So, yeah, a shame that we never got to see what would have happened. I think for us at this point to be disappointed about finishing second is a pretty good place to be,” Piastri continued.

“So yeah, massive thanks to the team. I think we did a really good job of executing with what we had. I think we clearly still need to find a bit of performance. But we took every opportunity we had.”

‘Heartbreak’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/oscar-...tolen-lost-win


Oscar Piastri gets 'robbed' of F1 win at Japanese Grand Prix - but still calls it one of the best races of his career
McLaren driver started a Grand Prix for the first time in 2026
30 Mar 2026
MICHAEL PONTICELLO FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA and IAN CHADBAND FOR AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATED PRESS
MailOnline

Despite missing out on a first win of the 2026 season at the Japanese Grand Prix, Aussie F1 star Oscar Piastri is ecstatic with his second-place finish at Suzuka. The McLaren driver crossed the line 13.7 seconds behind Mercedes teenager Kimi Antonelli, with an ill-timed safety car ruining his chances of taking the chequered flag.

It's still a major step forward for the Melburnian, who crashed out of his home grand prix before it even began, then failed to start the main race in China due to mechanical problems. After completing a rocket start from third on the grid, Piastri overtook both George Russell and Antonelli to lead the race in Suzuka, until he came into the pits on lap 19.

Piastri was off the race track for about 23 seconds, with McLaren producing a quick 2.4-second pit stop. Unfortunately for the Aussie, when British driver Oliver Bearman crashed a few laps later, Antonelli was able to pit and lose around 10 seconds less than Piastri did thanks to the safety car being deployed.

'Robbed';

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...es-career.html


Piastri: Mercedes beatable – but we still have a ‘pretty big gap to fill’
29/03/2026
Michael Delaney
F1i.com

Speaking to reporters after the race, the McLaren charger speculated how his race would have unfolded with the Safety Car. “I would have loved to have seen how it would have panned out,” he said. “I think you know I need to look back and see how you know whether Kimi was quicker than George or similar pace. I think if he was the same pace as George then it would have been a pretty stressful afternoon.”

“I probably would have had both of them right on my gearbox but yeah I mean I think once Kimi had clean air clearly he was a lot faster than me so I’m not sure we would have won the race but I certainly would have loved to have found out.” “Yes,” he said when asked if Mercedes were beatable this year. “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.”

“I think today on our side we did a really good job of that but I think it’s yeah it’s interesting to see you know when someone else has the fastest car that it’s not that straightforward. The fact that I could keep George behind for so long was really encouraging but you know we’re under no illusion we did everything right this weekend and we still got beaten by 15 seconds. So, we’ve got a pretty big gap to fill, I’m confident that we can get there but yeah we’ve still got some work to do.”

‘Piastri: Mercedes beatable’;

https://f1i.com/news/562125-piastri-...p-to-fill.html


Toto Wolff says McLaren have finally ‘understood’ how to fight Mercedes after Oscar Piastri podium
29 Mar 2026
David Comerford
F1 Oversteer

Toto Wolff says Mercedes are losing the advantage of their works status in their F1 battle with McLaren. Oscar Piastri challenged for the win at the Japanese Grand Prix before finishing second. Toto Wolff says McLaren have worked out how to optimise Mercedes power unit. No Mercedes one-two in Japan! Oscar Piastri takes second, with Charles Leclerc third.

Toto Wolff says McLaren are starting to understand how they can nullify that advantage. “Andrea said at the beginning of the season that as a works team, you have a little bit of an advantage,” Wolff told Sky Sports F1. “The other teams are catching up, how to harvest, how to deploy the energy. You could see today, we couldn’t get past the McLarens because they understood, and also the Ferraris had the right strategy in energy deployment. I think it’s good to watch.”

‘Toto Wolff says McLaren have finally understood’;

https://www.f1oversteer.com/news/tot...iastri-podium/


Oscar Piastri delivers ‘beatable’ Mercedes verdict after F1 Japanese GP
29 Mar 2026
Anirban Aly Mandal
Motorsport Week

Mercedes are ‘beatable’ says Oscar Piastri after F1 Japanese GP. The W17 has arguably been the benchmark for the field so far. That said, the Japanese GP did end a particular streak for the Silver Arrows. Russell and Antonelli had scored consecutive one-twos in Australia and China until Piastri ended that run on Sunday.

The McLaren driver is “confident” his team can out-develop its rivals throughout 2026 and catch up to the German marque on track. “Yes,” Piastri replied when asked if he feels Mercedes were beatable this year.

‘Beatable’;

https://www.motorsportweek.com/2026/...1-japanese-gp/

[Fortitude]

‘Finally see what you mean’: How Piastri one-liner and sickening smash exposed F1 flaw.
The speed delta was suddenly a monstrous 50 kilometres per hour — enormous for two drivers at full throttle.
30 Mar 2026
Michael Lamonato from Fox Sports
Fox Sports (Australia)

A sickening crash at the Japanese Grand Prix for Oliver Bearman, who limped away from his smashed-up Haas having sustained a 50 g impact, has added further heat to F1’s new regulations over safety concerns. Bearman left the road at 308 kilometres per hour attempting to avoid what would have been an aeroplane accident with Franco Colapinto.

The Briton was chasing the Argentine for 17th place out of the hairpin. As he rounded turn 12, Colapinto’s rear lights flashed red twice, signifying he was out of battery. Bearman, meanwhile, was holding down his boost button. The speed delta was suddenly a monstrous 50 kilometres per hour — enormous for two drivers at full throttle. Bearman swung left in equal parts to try to make a move and to avoid a crash, but he ended up on the grass, where he lost control of the car and triggered the smash.

In Australia, Charles Leclerc infamously declared that the large speed differentials were akin to deploying the “mushroom” in iconic video game Mario Kart. Watching the Bearman crash in the Japan cooldown room, Oscar Piastri was reminded of his words. “I finally see what you mean now about the mushroom,” Piastri said to Leclerc. “It’s pretty accurate.”

‘Finally see what you mean’;

https://www.foxsports.com.au/motorsp...1cbc4cbdc2e209


Piastri sees no easy fix for high closing speeds between F1 cars
30th Mar 2026
Keith Collantine
RaceFans

Oscar Piastri foresees difficulty for the FIA in finding a way to prevent the potentially dangerous closing speeds between Formula 1 cars which led to Oliver Bearman’s crash yesterday. “We’ve spoken about that being a possibility since these cars were conceptualised,” said Piastri. F1’s current engine regulations were approved in 2022 and are due to remain in force until at least 2030.

“It’s what we’re stuck with, with the power units,” Oscar Piastri said. “There’s no easy way of getting around it.” He pointed out footage of the crash suggested Colapinto’s car was not ‘super-clipping’ at the time. From what I saw there was no flashing light from Colapinto [on the back of his car], so I don’t even think he was super-clipping either, which is obviously a bit of a concern,” said Piastri.

“I had a pretty close call in free practice with Nico [Hulkenberg] because he caught me about three times as quickly as I expected on the straight, and we were both at full throttle. I think there’s clearly an element of learning for us as drivers, and where the accident happened it’s not a place where you expect someone to come from so far behind and have such a big speed difference. And whilst we’re learning that, unfortunately things like this are probably going to happen, which is a shame.”

‘Dangerous closing speeds’;

https://www.racefans.net/2026/03/30/...tween-f1-cars/


F1 must find answers to safety crisis after Oliver Bearman’s escape but there are no easy fixes
Teams have five weeks before the next race in Miami and they will need every minute to fix a hugely complicated problem
30 Mar 2026
Giles Richards
The Irish Times

Oliver Bearman’s Haas car was travelling at 307km/h (191mp/h) when he was forced to veer off track as he came up behind the relatively slow-moving Alpine of Franco Colapinto. The closing speed between the two cars was 50km/h, a frightening pace. The scenario was one many had been warning about before the season had even begun. With the deployment of electrical energy, and its subsequent recovery now an integral part of F1, Bearman was using his boost mode while Colapinto was recovering energy, hence the big difference in speed.

There was no underhand behaviour. Colapinto was on a defensive line as they came round the right-hand curve toward Spoon corner, but he did not cut across. Bearman simply came up on him so fast he had to swerve off the track to avoid hitting him. He did so and then piled into the barriers with a 50G impact from which he remarkably emerged with only some bruising, although his car was in pieces.

Equally, as the Williams driver Carlos Sainz said, it was lucky it happened at Suzuka where there was wide space and run-off for Bearman to take to before he hit the barriers. What, Sainz wondered, would have been the result on high-speed circuits such as Baku, Singapore or Las Vegas, where walls that are feet away, rather than grass and gravel, delineate the track.

‘Andrea Stella: “I don’t think a simple solution exists”’;

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/202...no-easy-fixes/


Carlos Sainz Leads F1 Drivers' Call For Safety Changes After Oliver Bearman's Japanese GP Crash
29 Mar 2026
Agence-France Presse
NDTV.com

Formula 1 drivers called for changes to protect their safety after Haas's Ollie Bearman slammed into a barrier at high speed at Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix. Williams driver Carlos Sainz called on racing authorities to make sure there was no repeat of the incident.

"As drivers, we have been extremely vocal that the problem is not only qualifying, it's also racing, and we were warning this type of accident was always going to happen," said the Spaniard. "Here we were lucky there was an escape road -- now imagine going to Baku, Singapore, Las Vegas and having this type of closing speeds, crashes next to the walls."

‘Make sure there was no repeat of the incident’;

https://sports.ndtv.com/formula-1/ca...crash-11282241


F1 must listen to drivers not just teams over safety concerns - Sainz
29 Mar 2026
JOSH SUTTILL, SCOTT MITCHELL-MALM, JON NOBLE
The Race

Grand Prix Drivers’ Association director Carlos Sainz says he’s surprised fixing qualifying is F1’s main priority rather than addressing drivers’ concerns about the racing too. “That’s why I was so surprised when they said ‘no, we will sort out qualifying and leave the racing alone because it's exciting',” Sainz added. “As drivers, we've been extremely vocal that the problem is not only qualifying, it's also racing.”

“Here we were lucky there was an escape road. Now imagine going to Baku or going to Singapore or going to Vegas and having these kind of closing speeds and crashes next to the walls. I, or we as GPDA, we've warned the FIA these actions are going to happen a lot with this set of regulations and we need to change something soon if we don't want them to happen.

“It was 50G I heard, higher than my crash in Russia in 2015, I was 46G. Just in my mind what kind of crash would you have in Vegas, Baku, etc? I hope it serves as an example…to the teams and people that said the racing was OK, because the racing is not OK.”

‘Mushroom mode causing problems’;

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/f...oncerns-sainz/


Liam Lawson reveals major safety issue with 2026 F1 regulations
23 Mar 2026
Tiana Soans
Motorsport Week

The difference in speed on track can sometimes leave drivers with a limited opportunity to react, resulting in a collision. Whilst this is yet to happen this season, Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson warns that avoiding contact is incredibly difficult and extremely dangerous. Despite this, Liam Lawson believes teams will continue to do their own thing until the FIA steps in.

“I mean, at the moment, it’s sort of very inconsistent,” Liam Lawson highlighted “We’re doing lot. We obviously make our own decisions on when we charge and deploy, and it’s quite different between teams and engines. So, yeah, it obviously depends on what the FIA decide to do. But right now, there are a lot of differences that we have to be quite careful of. Because you can be having quite a good run on a car, and all of a sudden they start charging, and you’re right behind them with SLM open.”

It’s not a lot you can do to avoid them.” Lawson’s gripe with the new cars is yet another driver adding their name to the growing list on the grid that are unhappy with the new technical regulations. The drivers will be waiting for the data gathered by the FIA and the next steps as F1’s most political issue continues to divide the grid.


‘Major safety issue’;

https://www.motorsportweek.com/2026/...1-regulations/


Ecclestone Predicts Crash As Fears Over New Regs Grow
12 Mar 2026
GrandPrix.com

Bernie Ecclestone has warned that Formula 1's new regulations will eventually cause a serious accident, joining a growing chorus of voices - from drivers to team principals to former champions - expressing alarm about the safety and sporting character of the 2026 cars. The 95-year-old former F1 supremo told Swiss newspaper Blick he was already convinced after just one race.

"There's going to be a real crash soon. The speed differences during battery charging - braking on the straights - will eventually surprise the driver behind, and then we'll have a big accident”, said Ecclestone. “I just hope I'm wrong this time.”

‘Convinced after just one race’;

https://www.grandprix.com/news/eccle...regs-grow.html