Oscar Piastri: What made me fast last season is now my “downfall”

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri has admitted that the strengths that made him a title contender during the 2025 Formula 1 season have become his biggest weaknesses as he battles to adapt to this year's regulations.

The Australian sits seventh in the championship with just 138 points and lacking a grand prix win so far this season. His team-mate and reigning champion Lando Norris perches just one rung above him in the standings, but with vastly more points - 201. With F1 now beginning its American triple-header, Piastri believes he is slowly starting to become more comfortable with the car.

Asked about McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown’s claim that he is back to being the driver of old, Piastri said in the FIA press conference in Austin: “It certainly was hard to find for a while, but I feel like the last triple-header was definitely more back to where I wanted to be.

“Definitely not still at the level I want to aspire to be at, but I’m back in the ballpark that I should be in. It’s been no secret that this year has been challenging in terms of getting a grip on this year’s car.

“But I feel like over the last few weeks, it’s started to click a little bit more. It’s still very challenging, but we’re finding a way.”

He admitted that very little has changed on the car, and that most of the work has been on himself instead.

“We’ve tried various things, I think what’s been challenging this year, you can’t quickly fix. I think even trying to fix it overall is not an easy thing at all,” he added.

Photo by: Guido De Bortoli / LAT Images via Getty Images

“We've been trying some things. It’s been a lot of hard work in terms of how I adapt myself to the car, because the things that were often working so well for me at points last year that are kind of the things that are my downfall in a lot of weekends this year.

“When you can’t rely on the things that you normally want to rely on, it is always challenging, both in terms of actually adapting, but also, when you’ve been used to something working for you for a long time, trying to go away from that, there’s a mental challenge to that as well.

"So I feel like we're making progress and things are starting to feel a little bit more comfortable, but there's still room to go."

Piastri’s comments follow his admission after a difficult Singapore Grand Prix that McLaren has “no magic answers” this season, and team principal Andrea Stella added that the car will not change enough to help the situation until next year.

McLaren is third in the constructors’ championship, seven points ahead of a surging Red Bull, whose Max Verstappen comes off two consecutive grand prix wins. The papaya-coloured team will be hoping that this new-found performance at Milton Keynes takes a weekend off at the Circuit of the Americas.

Formula 1Why Oscar Piastri has struggled to show his best with this year's McLaren MCL40

Formula 1Oscar Piastri delivers worrying McLaren verdict with six races remaining

Formula 1Zak Brown gives stern warning to Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri after Singapore collision

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

- The Motorsport.com Team