McLaren driver Oscar Piastri misses the pressure of fighting for the Formula 1 world championship, admitting that the current season brings a different kind of stress.
Piastri finished third in the standings last year after leading for much of the campaign and engaging in a season-long battle with team-mate Lando Norris, according to motorsport.com.
- Piastri sits seventh in the drivers’ standings with three races remaining in the 2026 season.
- McLaren trails the performance pace shown in previous years under new F1 regulations.
- Norris secured the title last year and recently won the race in Brazil.
This year has unfolded differently for the Australian driver, who currently trails Norris by 94 points with three rounds left on the calendar.
Yes and no,
Piastri said when asked by RacingNews365 whether missing out on the title had been a blow, as reported by motorsport.com. I want to be in a championship fight every year if I can be, but also, it’s definitely a bit more relaxed this year.
Piastri acknowledged that the current position is not where the team wants to be, though it brings a noticeable drop in stress levels.
But that stress that you have in a championship fight is the feeling you want because it means you’re fighting for something that is what your goal is,
he said, according to motorsport.com. I am missing that feeling this year for sure, and it adds a bit of extra intensity and things like that.
McLaren has faced challenges matching the pace of the previous two seasons following the introduction of F1’s new regulations. The Woking outfit has nevertheless managed a performance jump in recent races.
It was clear at the beginning of the season that they were going to be quite different, but mainly from the power unit side of things,
Piastri explained to motorsport.com. The actual cars themselves are smaller, they have less downforce, so of course they’re always going to be different.
Teams initially focused heavily on power unit optimization before rule tweaks allowed engineers to examine the chassis itself.
It wasn’t that easy to drive, and it’s still not been easy to drive, even now,
Piastri stated, as reported by motorsport.com. So, pretty early on, we identified that it was going to be challenging.
| Driver | Current Standing | Recent Success |
|---|---|---|
| Lando Norris | Championship Leader | Race winner in Brazil |
| Oscar Piastri | Seventh | Third in standings last year |
Understanding the complications within the car design required significant time from the engineering department.
It took us a while to understand exactly what needed to change, and then trying to actually change it is tough,
Piastri told motorsport.com.
Progress continues step by step as the team addresses the tricky handling characteristics of the current machine.
We’re making progress with it slowly, and that’s all we can keep trying to do,
Piastri noted, according to motorsport.com. So yeah, that’s been the biggest thing. We recognised pretty early on that the car had some things that were tricky to manage.
The season concludes with three remaining rounds on the 2026 calendar.
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