Oscar Piastri said finishing second at Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix was "as good as a win" for McLaren after a disastrous start to the season for the Australian and his world champion team-mate Lando Norris. 

In what was his first grand prix of the season, Piastri lost out to Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli at Suzuka, with Norris finishing fifth. Piastri crashed on the way to the grid at the season opener in Melbourne and missed the race in China due to a technical problem. Norris also did not start in China because of a separate issue. Piastri said it had been a "really encouraging" race in Japan after McLaren's early-season woes.