It’s taken less than one season for Australian Oscar Piastri to secure his first-ever Formula 1 podium after the 22-year-old finished the Japanese Grand Prix in third place. 
 
The McLaren rookie has been highly impressive during his debut year in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship, but it took just 16 races for him to claim his first podium after what was a string of strong performances over the weekend at the iconic Suzuka.
 
Across the whole event, Piastri had plenty of pace, but it was his qualifying performance on Saturday that was one of the most impressive moments from the Grand Prix as he put his MCL60 F1 car on the front row alongside polesitter Max Verstappen
 
After becoming just the fifth Australian to qualify on the front row of a Formula 1 Grand Prix on Saturday, on Sunday, the Victorian joined another exclusive club made up of famous names such as Daniel Ricciardo, Mark Webber, Alan Jones, Tim Schenken and Jack Brabham as Australian F1 podium-getters.
 
Starting the Japanese Grand Prix from second place, Piastri had a less than ideal start as polesitter Max Verstappen pushed his way across the track, making it awkward for Piastri and allowing Lando Norris to slot into second place.
 
Behind the front three was plenty of chaos, which led to an early safety car intervention, and while Piastri was unable to reclaim the place from Norris on the restart, he managed to get the job done following a successful undercut on lap 13 when pitting during the virtual safety car.  
 
Unfortunately, Norris charged back into second not long around 14 laps later after both drivers had their respective pit stops, with Piastri soon having to worry about Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc who was showing good pace.
 
The second round of pit stops saw Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton attempt an undercut on lap 35, but Piastri and McLaren reacted quickly, pitting again at the right time and staying ahead of both drivers.
 
From that point onwards, Piastri looked comfortable as he sealed the historic podium ahead of Leclerc, as well as locking in a double McLaren podium.


“It feels pretty special. I’ll remember it for a very long time, I can’t thank the team enough for giving me this opportunity," Piastri said post-race. 

“There’s not many people who get it and I’ve got it in my first season.

“It wasn’t my best race ever but it was enough to get a trophy at the end so I’m super happy.”

Not only did Piastri score a podium, but he was also voted Driver of the Day and moved up the standings to ninth, while Norris moved to equal seventh after his runner-up finish.
 
Although it was a memorable ace for McLaren, the day belonged to Verstappen and Red Bull after securing the Constructors’ Championship title for the second consecutive season thanks to picking an unattainable lead with six rounds to go.
 
Red Bull now has more than double the amount of points compared to the next best team in Mercedes, while McLaren reduced the gap to Aston Martin for fourth to within 50 points.
 
The FIA Formula 1 World Championship continues early next month with the Qatar Grand Prix on 8 October.