After Suzuka Oscar Piastri said Mercedes can be beaten this season, pointing to the champion team's recurring slow race starts as the weakness McLaren can target. The McLaren driver led into Turn 1 at Suzuka and never lost a place on-track to the W17, yet Kimi Antonelli won after a safety car reshuffled the order. Piastri believes the gap is clear but not untouchable if rivals strike at the launch and keep pressure on.
Mercedes has the fastest package so far. The W17 has won all four races. Across both cars it has six podiums from eight starts. The record is paired with a soft spot at the line. The team has shed 21 positions at race starts across those four rounds. Technical director Simone Resta has acknowledged that starts are a weak point. That pattern has kept rivals in the fight even when raw pace points elsewhere.
Suzuka offered a clean case study. Piastri made a strong launch and controlled the first stint. He did not get passed on-track. A well-timed safety car then flipped the race, giving Antonelli track position. The Mercedes driver pulled clear and won by around 15 seconds. The result underlined the strength of the W17 in free air and the value of track position once its tires and engine were in the right window.
Piastri said there is “nothing magical” about Mercedes’ edge. In his view it comes from more downforce and better use of the power unit. He said McLaren is “losing a bit everywhere” and pointed to finding more downforce as the main path to close the gap. The team has improved launch execution this year, and Piastri’s Suzuka getaway showed how a sharp start can disrupt the dominant car.
People inside the paddock link start form to setup and strategy choices. Gear ratio selections and engine mode priorities can trade away some launch bite for race pace or energy deployment later in the lap. Those choices can leave room for rivals in the first 200 meters even when overall pace favors Mercedes.
McLaren is well placed to chase that window. It runs the Mercedes power unit and has logged steady development gains. The April break offers time for upgrades across the grid. Teams expect a wave of floor and wing updates aimed at adding load without hurting drag or tire life. If McLaren finds the downforce Piastri wants, and if Mercedes cannot lock in its launch procedures, the fight at the front tightens. Strong starts can pin the W17 behind in traffic, force earlier pit windows, and bring strategy variance into play. That is where Piastri sees the chance to turn a dominant season on paper into a live contest on Sundays.