Russell Admits Surprise at McLaren Pace as Piastri Tops Suzuka Practice Sessions

Championship leader George Russell has admitted his genuine surprise at McLaren resurgent pace during Friday practice sessions at the Japanese Grand Prix, as Oscar Piastri topped the timesheets ahead of both Mercedes drivers at the legendary Suzuka circuit.

Piastri impressive performance marked a significant turnaround for the defending champions, who have struggled with early-season reliability issues and pace deficits that left them trailing Mercedes by substantial margins through the opening rounds of the 2026 campaign.

The Australian driver concluded Friday running with a lap time that placed him 0.092 seconds ahead of Mercedes Kimi Antonelli, who captured his maiden Formula 1 victory at the previous round in China. Russell, despite leading the championship standings, found himself third fastest and 0.205 seconds behind Piastri benchmark.

McLaren were pretty fast, Russell acknowledged candidly. So a little bit of a surprise, to be honest. Still some improvements to do so a bit of work to do tonight.

The admission reflects the unexpected nature of McLaren competitiveness, particularly given their challenging start to the season that included double retirement in China when both cars failed to reach the starting grid due to separate electrical problems with their battery units.

Lando Norris, the defending world champion, secured fourth position despite missing significant track time due to a hydraulic leak that sidelined his car for the first half of the final practice session. The disruption compounded his difficulties after spending much of the opening session conducting aerodynamic testing rather than pure pace work.

Around a track like this you want laps under your belt to give yourself confidence, Norris explained. I am two or three steps behind on set-up and no long running.

However, Mercedes maintained their expected superiority during race simulation runs, with Antonelli leading Russell in long-run pace while Piastri remained competitive but approximately 0.25 seconds per lap slower than the silver arrows when accounting for traffic disruptions.

Russell dismissed concerns that new hybrid energy management requirements would diminish Suzuka legendary challenge, emphasizing that the circuit retained its fearsome characteristics despite regulatory changes.

We are a bit down on speed into the first corner but the Esses is still super-fast, and the speed we get up to halfway down the back straight is the fastest we have ever done, Russell observed. So that is pretty cool and good to see.

Max Verstappen disagreed with Russell assessment, expressing frustration that energy recovery programs had indeed reduced the challenge through technical sections like the Degners and Esses. The Red Bull driver struggled to tenth place, 1.376 seconds off Piastri pace while grappling with fundamental balance issues.

It is what we saw from the simulations; same for everyone, right? Verstappen stated. I do not think that was our biggest problem. We just struggled a lot more with the balance of the car and grip.

The Dutchman difficulties highlighted the varying adaptation challenges teams face under new regulations, as he found himself behind cars from Audi, Williams, and Haas during the practice sessions.

Ferrari appeared to struggle for overall competitiveness, with both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton expressing concerns about grip levels and car confidence. Hamilton complained about being slow because I have got no confidence in the car, while Leclerc suffered multiple track excursions.

Despite McLaren encouraging practice pace, senior figures within the team remained cautiously realistic about their actual competitive position, suggesting the underlying performance hierarchy established through the first two races remained unchanged with Mercedes holding advantages in race trim.

The encouraging practice results provide McLaren with optimism heading into Saturday qualifying sessions, though the team recognizes that translating single-lap speed into sustained race performance represents their ultimate challenge at the demanding Japanese circuit.

Saturday sessions will determine whether McLaren practice pace translates into genuine qualifying competitiveness against the Mercedes duo that has dominated the early portion of the 2026 Formula 1 season.