(Motorsport-Total.com) – At the 2025 Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort, Oscar Piastri achieved his last Formula 1 victory to date. That was a year ago now. Since then, the McLaren driver has been searching for his form from the early phase of the 2025 season, when he appeared to be the clear title favorite.
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But just as much as his McLaren teammate Lando Norris disenchanted him at the end of 2025, Piastri also remains in the shadow of the defending world champion in 2026: Norris regularly achieves better results, while Piastri hardly gets going.
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella now explained this with special circumstances for Piastri: “We already saw last year that he needs to make adjustments from a driving technique perspective when the car has a low grip level.” This was the case in 2025, for example, in Austin and Mexico City: Piastri struggled.
McLaren team principal rules out mental block
“He has to adjust his driving style, his approach, and his expectations under such conditions,” said Stella. “This requires a certain mental effort, causing him to lose a few tenths of a second. Because you have to consciously process things rather than drive purely instinctively.”
Piastri does not have a mental block, Stella explained: “It is purely a technical matter that has nothing to do with psychological aspects. We are operating here in the driving and technical area.”
What makes Andrea Stella confident
And Piastri proves that he fundamentally has the speed to be competitive in Formula 1 – even on a weekend like in Zandvoort, where Norris performed significantly better.
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“Oscar drove good lap times. However, there were two factors in the race that affected him,” said Stella. “On the one hand, we called him into the pits to respond to George Russell. In doing so, we lost position to Russell because our pit stop was too slow. The team is responsible for that, not Oscar.”
“And then in the second stint on the hard tires, we failed to get the tires working. They remained consistently in an area with very, very little grip. We did not see that in the first stint. So there are some things we need to work on.”
Is Piastri a victim of the small gaps?
On the other hand, the current Formula 1 immediately and harshly punishes small shortcomings, Stella explained. “At least three teams are within a tenth of a second. If things don’t go optimally, you can lose several positions. Then you quickly find yourself in sixth place. That is brutal.” (Comparison: Norris vs. Piastri in the 2026 team duel)
But that is Piastri’s reality: Since second place in Suzuka and third place in Miami, he has not achieved another podium result, was only once fourth and three times fifth. Norris, on the other hand, achieved two wins and a third place in the same period and is 55 points ahead of his McLaren teammate in the overall world championship standings.
Therefore, Stella said: “We must continue to work together with Oscar on all improvement possibilities. I am satisfied with the progress from Zandvoort. And I am sure there will be more as the season progresses.” However, Stella did not explain why he is convinced of this.
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