Piastri tops Japanese GP practice but McLaren focus remains on learning

Oscar Piastri delivered a morale-boosting performance by setting the fastest time in Friday's second practice session for the Japanese Grand Prix, offering a bright spot in his challenging start to the 2026 season. However, McLaren emphasized the day was primarily for experimentation and data gathering, with teammate Lando Norris facing significant disruptions to his running program.

Why it matters:

After failing to start the first two races of the year, a clean and competitive Friday represents a crucial step forward for Piastri's season. For McLaren, the session was less about headline times and more about understanding their MCL40 under the new regulations, a process complicated by Norris's technical issues which left the team playing catch-up on one side of the garage.

The details:

• Piastri's best lap of 1:30.133s put him at the top of the FP2 timesheets, a welcome result following his double DNF in Australia and China.
• McLaren used extensive aerodynamic rake configurations on both cars throughout the day, treating practice as an experimental session to build a performance database for the new car.
• Team senior director Randy Singh confirmed a hydraulic issue on Norris's car after FP1, which limited his running in the second session and required careful management by the crew.
• Norris expressed frustration, stating the team is "two or three steps behind" due to the lack of consecutive laps and long-run data, which is critical for building confidence and refining setup at a demanding circuit like Suzuka.
• Both driver and team leadership struck a cautiously optimistic but realistic tone, acknowledging strong rivals—particularly Mercedes—while focusing on their own incremental progress.

What's next:

The priority for McLaren overnight is to analyze the data gathered from Piastri's smoother run and diagnose the fixes for Norris's car. Converting Friday's learnings into a consistent qualifying and race performance on Saturday will be the true test of their progress. Piastri will aim to translate his practice pace into a clean weekend, while Norris and his engineers face a busy night to recover lost ground and prepare for a more representative day of running.