Oscar Piastri's deadpan "Mario Kart" joke wins the Japanese Grand Prix cooldown room

The 2026 engine regulations have been heavily criticised for feeling like a video game, but it took one deadpan comment from the McLaren star to make the meme official

Following an interesting Japanese Grand Prix won by the impressive Kimi Antonelli, the podium sitters retreated to the calm of the cooldown room. With the Italian sat beside Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri, they watched Ollie Bearman's violent crash as he swerved to avoid a slow Franco Colapinto.

The trio reacted in unison as they watched the replay of the Haas hitting the barriers in what was confirmed to be a 50G shunt. With Bearman confirmed to be in good health following the incident, it was a comment from Piastri that amused fans of the championship.

Turning to Leclerc on the sofa, the Australian brought up a comment made by the Monegasque earlier in the season.

"I finally see what you mean about the mushroom," Piastri joked. "It's pretty accurate."

Max Verstappen is far from the only driver comparing the hybrid systems used for the 2026 regulations to Nintendo's iconic racing franchise. In fact, rather ironically, the Japanese Grand Prix was celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Super Mario Bros. brand as the cast of the upcoming movie on the subject joined the chaos.

Leclerc vented his frustrations with the 2026 regulations during the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, likening the boost mode to a Mario Kart power-up.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Photo by: Andy Hone/ LAT Images via Getty Images

"This is like the mushroom in Mario Kart," he said on the radio, referencing the burst of speed that's available to drivers while others are rendered sitting ducks when they run out of available power. Verstappen was a victim of this performance deficit in today's race when he was overtaken by Alpine's Pierre Gasly, whom he simply waved to in his defenceless state.

This came after his recent comments where he claimed he's swapped his simulator work with racing on a Nintendo, joking that he was "good with mushrooms, but not so much with blue shells."

Bearman's crash today looked to be caused by the deficit amplified by the current powertrains - something the FIA is going to be discussing with stakeholders in the five-week break ahead of the Miami Grand Prix in early May.