Formula 1

Piastri sees progress after difficult McLaren season

The Australian says adapting to the MCL40 has begun to feel more manageable, while stressing that he still has work to do.

GIS Nobile

Training and mental coaching

Racing Racing: cars and motorcycles Training and mental coaching

Oscar Piastri says he is making progress in adapting to McLaren’s car after a challenging Formula 1 campaign, though he believes he remains short of the level he wants to reach.

Speaking ahead of the United States Grand Prix, Piastri described recent weeks as a period in which aspects of the car had begun to make more sense. The Grand Prix had not yet been run at the time of his comments, according to Formula 1.

A difficult start and a return to form

Piastri entered the season after finishing 13 points behind McLaren team-mate Lando Norris in the 2025 Drivers’ Championship. He began the current campaign with DNS results at his home event in Australia and at the Chinese round.

He later returned to the podium in Japan and Miami, but had not finished on the rostrum again by the time of the Formula 1 report. Norris, meanwhile, had taken consecutive victories in Hungary and the Netherlands.

After an error in Baku dropped Piastri from the top three to 13th, he finished sixth in Malaysia and fifth in Singapore.

Learning what the car needs

Piastri said the adaptation has involved changes to his own approach as well as work to identify what he needs from the car. He noted that habits that had served him well at times in the previous season had become less effective during the current campaign.

He described the process as demanding and said the underlying issues could not be resolved quickly. While he felt that the car was becoming more comfortable, he also acknowledged that further progress was needed.

McLaren CEO Zak Brown had recently said Piastri’s confidence was increasing. The Formula 1 report said Piastri agreed that his performance over the preceding triple-header had moved closer to where he wanted it to be, without yet reaching his target.

COTA presents a mixed test

Ahead of the United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of The Americas, Piastri said the track would test both the areas where McLaren had been stronger and those where it had struggled. He identified high-speed corners as a relative strength and low-speed sections as a difficulty.

Piastri also said McLaren would bring new parts to the car, which he hoped would help. He cautioned that the team faced a performance deficit against its rivals and did not make a prediction about the weekend’s result.