Oscar Piastri Outlines McLaren’s Ongoing Battle to Cure MCL40 Woes

Oscar Piastri has had almost no skin in the game in 2026, after challenging for the drivers’ title for the majority of the 2025 season. Much of it has to do with how hard the MCL40 has been to drive. Heading into the Mexico City GP, the Aussie driver hopes that the team can overcome its shortcomings in the next few months.

McLaren has opted to apply its final update package to the MCL40 in stages, with the team shipping each part as and when it is ready. And with these upgrades intended to enhance the performance ceiling of the car, the fundamental issue remains that each lap in the MCL40 needs to be driven like a qualifying lap.

“We have to find a way in the next few months. Hopefully, it’s not years, but obviously there’s fundamental aspects of these cars that aren’t going to change,” Piastri said to the media during Thursday’s exchange in Mexico City.

The Australian driver added that he has had to drive ‘a lot differently’ this year than he is used to, adding to the struggles of 2026. While there have been positive signs as the season has gone on, it has still been a challenging process for Piastri, who feels like his team is in a place where they have to take two steps forward and then one step back.

Oscar Piastri Lays Bare the Struggles of McLaren in 2026

With teammate Lando Norris winning two races this year, Piastri has seen the positive side of the MCL40 as well. However, the last race in Austin was once again a setback for the Woking-based team. The car remains in a very sensitive place, and it needs to be driven in a very narrow window to be in competition with the others.

Moreover, the poor performance in low-speed corners and overall high edginess have remained weak spots of the car that have been difficult to purge. Both the drivers have consistently complained of having to drive aggressively to extract peak performance, but even that isn’t a guarantee that the car isn’t going to bite back.

Whether the unpredictability stems from the Mercedes power unit or a result of the suspension geometry & aerodynamic concept remains a mystery for the team in the papaya orange.

To top it all off, the tires have also been hard to master with such a car in his hands. Last year, the tires were vastly different from this year, and given the circumstances, it hasn’t been an easy adaptation. But with a lot more testing done on representative cars throughout 2026, Piastri feels that things will certainly change for the better in that area next season.

The Fight Is Far From Over for McLaren and Oscar Piastri

As a result of all the problems, Piastri has long been eliminated from the race for the drivers’ title. Following last weekend’s race, Norris, too, is no longer in contention, but the fight is still on in the team standings. With the financial bonuses of the constructors’ standings still to play for, McLaren’s focus will remain on retaking P3 in the standings.

Equal on 355 points with Red Bull, McLaren is currently ranked fourth in the standings, given the Austrian outfit has secured more second-place finishes. A higher finish would not only offer McLaren a better financial reward, but it would also allow them to use the funds to improve their learning for next year.

Should the upgrades that are coming in stages help the team outdo Red Bull, the British team will be able to take key positive findings away from the final stretch of the 2026 campaign. Therefore, the prospect of a better 2027 is the biggest motivating factor for both McLaren drivers.

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