Stella says Piastri’s clean, repeatable style has not translated to McLaren’s 2026 car

Oscar Piastri’s clean, repeatable driving style has been harder to bring out in McLaren’s 2026 car, team principal Andrea Stella says. Stella called the challenge technical and said the adaptation is one reason Piastri can appear less competitive than teammate Lando Norris. The Australian has had to learn how to make the car perform without assuming speed and a clean lap will always come together, Stella said.

Stella said the car “needs quite a lot of effort to deliver lap time” and requires much more intense driver inputs than last year. The 2026 cars generate downforce differently from the ground-effect machines of 2025, while their rear ends move around more than the planted, stable rear of the 2025 cars.

In 2025, Piastri won seven grands prix and led the world championship for 15 races in total before finishing third. In 2026, he has two podiums; his latest was a third place in Miami, 14 grands prix ago. He has 138 points to Norris’s 201.

Stella does not expect McLaren’s upgrade package, due later in 2026, to make the car easier to drive. He says the coming changes add downforce, but a more fundamental change is needed; McLaren is addressing that longer-term with the MCL41 for 2027.