Oscar Piastri delivers worrying McLaren verdict with six races remaining

McLaren Formula 1 driver Oscar Piastri has admitted that his team will likely not find a fix for its problems before the close of the 2026 season. With only six races remaining, the Australian believes the car has reached its limit.

“I think in the short term, it’s probably as good as it’s going to get,” he told the media. "Malaysia was another good step forward in terms of understanding what I need to do to fundamentally bring the car a bit closer to where I would like it to be.

“I don’t think we’re going to have any magic answers this year.”

The 2026 regulations have brought drastic changes that several drivers across the grid are struggling to fully understand.

“The cars themselves are very different,” Piastri said. “The tyres are quite different as well, so that’s not going to change anytime soon. I’m definitely making progress, [but] it’s still not as comfortable as I would like.”

Piastri described McLaren’s performance as all or nothing.

“Either you’re quite a way off or you’re really fast. There’s not really an in-between,” he said. Asked what is behind the drastic changes in performance, he joked: “If I knew, I’d be a much happier person.”

Oscar Piastri, McLaren, Lando Norris, McLaren

Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images

He also admitted that his team-mate and reigning champion Lando Norris has at times flattered the car, exhibiting more performance than the car is actually capable of.

“Some of the laps that Lando’s done in qualifying to put the car on pole have been better than what the car deserves,” he said, ever a team player. Norris has described the car as "mentally exhausting" to drive, and team principal Andrea Stella has also agreed with Piastri, confirming that the MCL40's underlying problems won't be fixed until the 2027 car.

Piastri is seventh in the championship on 138 points without a grand prix win this season. McLaren, the reigning constructors’ champion, is third on 339 points, but only seven ahead of a resurgent Red Bull going into this weekend’s United States Grand Prix.

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