Oscar Piastri says McLaren car has reached its development limit
Oscar Piastri believes McLaren will not find magic answers for its performance issues before the 2026 season ends. Team principal Andrea Stella suggests underlying problems with the MCL40 may not be resolved until the 2027 car, leaving McLaren with a narrow 7 point lead over Red Bull.
The car has reached its limit
Oscar Piastri says McLaren will likely not find a fix for its problems before the 2026 season ends. With six races remaining, the Australian driver believes the car has reached its limit. He told media that in the short term, the car is probably as good as it is going to get. He noted that Malaysia was another good step forward to help him understand how to bring the car closer to where he would like it to be, but he does not think the team will have any "magic answers" this year. I think his comment about lacking magic answers is a blunt admission that the development path has stalled. The 2026 regulations brought drastic changes that several drivers across the grid are struggling to fully understand, and Piastri said the car and the tyres are quite different. He says the driving experience is not as comfortable as he would like. Piastri says performance is "all or nothing," meaning the car is either extremely fast or quite far off with no in-between. He joked that if he knew why the performance changed so much, he would be a much happier person.
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Races left | 6 |
| Piastri points | 138 |
| McLaren points | 339 |
| Constructor gap | 7 |
| Piastri wins | 0 |
Norris outperforms the MCL40
Lando Norris, the reigning champion, describes the MCL40 as "mentally exhausting" to drive. Piastri claims that some of the qualifying laps Lando Norris completed to take pole position were better than what the car deserves, because the driver often exhibits more performance than the car is capable of providing. Team principal Andrea Stella agrees that the underlying problems with the MCL40 will not be fixed until the 2027 car. This leaves McLaren in a precarious position as they head into the United States Grand Prix. In the constructors’ championship, McLaren holds 339 points, which puts them only seven points ahead of a resurgent Red Bull. Piastri currently sits in seventh place in the championship with 138 points and has recorded no grand prix wins this season. Without a car that provides consistent performance, the team will struggle to maintain its lead against the competition because the 7 point gap between McLaren and Red Bull is narrow.
