Piastri says McLaren envies Mercedes’ confidence on corner entry

Oscar Piastri says McLaren envies Mercedes’ confidence on corner entry and that tyre sensitivity is not the whole explanation for the team’s difficulty extracting consistent pace from its 2026 car.

Mercedes had won 11 of the first 17 races in 2026 and was closing in on a ninth constructors’ title. McLaren, the reigning constructors’ champion, was fighting Red Bull for third, with a seven-point lead after a mixed triple-header.

Asked whether tyres were affecting performance in 2026, Piastri replied, “If I knew, I'd be a much happier person.” He said Mercedes’ advantage in Baku had not surprised him, citing its speed everywhere, strong straight-line performance and confidence entering corners.

Piastri said McLaren could find substantial lap time by overcoming what was holding it back. But its pace could vary sharply: sometimes the team was a long way off, sometimes very fast, with little in between. He added that aspects of how McLaren needs to drive the car may be compounding the difficulty.

He also said some of Lando Norris’ qualifying laps to put McLaren on pole had been better than the car deserved. The pattern was not new: Piastri said that in 2025 McLaren had shown exceptional pace on some stints and weekends, but struggled on others without understanding why.