Following the 2026 F1 Italian GP, Oscar Piastri discussed the difficulty of racing while trying to manage the energy over a lap. He also spoke on the battle with his McLaren teammate Lando Norris during the last lap of the race.
Piastri on the pace of the McLaren during the 2026 F1 Italian GP
Oscar Piastri spent most of the 2026 Italian GP stuck in battles with Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen and Lando Norris. He stated that the race was more about how smart you were instead of how quick you were. However, the Australian praised the pace of the McLaren during the race, claiming it was back to where it should be.
“Yes, I think so. I think we’re about where we expected to be. I think to be quicker than the Ferraris was a good thing, just.
“It was a tricky race. It wasn’t necessarily about who was the quickest out there. You kind of just had to be smart. And I felt like for a lot of the race I was stuck in battles I didn’t really want to be a part of. Which was obviously difficult to know what the right thing to do was.
“But I think for me the biggest positive was just that this weekend was a lot stronger and back to where it should be. There’s still room to improve, clearly. But it was nice to at least have a strong weekend where the pace seemed back in the place it should be.”
Oscar Piastri discusses the last lap battle against McLaren teammate
Despite spending the entire race comfortably ahead of Lando Norris, Piastri was under threat from his teammate during the closing stages at the ‘Temple of Speed‘. After catching up to Piastri, the Australian spent the last few laps attempting to hold on to P4. However, by the final lap, his teammate and 2025 Championship rival passed him and made it stick until the checkered flag.
This intra-team battle was not the smoothest. With Norris ending up on the grass on lap 51, claiming the 25-year-old pushed him off the track, but later admitting it was his own mistake.
“Yeah, it was a good battle. It was a lot of back and forth. The last lap you never really know what to do with the energy.
“I think we went for different strategies with that and he got past. I thought I’d have a chance to get back past again, but ultimately, I just didn’t quite get there. It’s always a bit of a gamble with these cars. But I definitely know for next time what I would do differently.”
Piastri on tactical 2026 racing at the Italian GP
Racing in F1 2026 revolves around how much energy a driver can conserve over a lap to get an overtake done, as well as being able to make it stick. This has proved difficult for drivers to learn over the course of the season. However, it has created more overtakes.
The F1 Italian GP provided lots of overtakes, although it featured lots of yo-yo racing. However, after the race Piastri discussed how difficult it was for the drivers to know what to do.
“It’s difficult. You know, if you use any extra energy you’re going to pay for it somewhere. I was slowly building a gap on Lewis and then he spent all his energy getting past me and then kept using it to try and break free.
“He actually got a second ahead and he lost it all in one straight. It’s still quite bizarre. Did I enjoy it more than I thought? Yes.
“Was I stuck in a lot of battles that I just wanted to go and have them pull me further into the race? Yes, I was also in that situation.
“It is what it is. Probably better than a race where nothing happens. But definitely difficult in the cockpit to know exactly what to do.”
Oscar Piastri also discussed how powerful overtake mode is. After the Virtual Safety Car came out on lap 28 while Lance Strolls car was being recovered, multiple drivers decided to take a cheap pit stop. Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen pitted. McLaren decided to keep both cars out on track.
Despite this, Piastri was able to stick within a second of Verstappen for a good length of time, even though the Dutchman was on much fresher tyres when he passed him. This meant that the Aussie had overtake mode to help him stick with the 4-time World Champion.
“I think a little bit, yes. He made a bit of a mistake at Turn 1, and I think, well not I think, the track was breaking up quite a bit at Turn 2. And I think he got in the marbles and that took a while for him to get that off his tyres. Because of that we had a lot of back and forth. And actually I just wanted him to sit in front of me and drag me along because I knew he was quicker than me.
“But once that happened it was a bit awkward because he was a little bit quicker, but not enough for me to sit there comfortably and not have to compromise my driving. That was a bit tricky, but I think our pace at the end of the stint looked quite good, which was good.”
Oscar Piastri on Kimi Antonelli and the speed of the Mercedes at the 2026 F1 Italian GP
Kimi Antonelli became the first Italian in 60 years to win the Italian GP. The 20-year-old had a spectacular race, starting from P19 on the grid, making his way through to finish on the top step of the podium.
Following the 2026 F1 Italian GP, Oscar Piastri spoke about how McLaren expected Antonelli to make his way through the grid quickly because of the pace the Mercedes demonstrated all weekend.
“Not massively, if I’m honest. We knew the Mercedes were going to be incredibly quick this weekend. And I think not only were they quick in terms of lap times, they were very quick on the straights. And I think on a circuit like this and with these kinds of cars, when you can be quick on the straights and not get stuck in all that yo-yo racing and just bide your time and wait for the straight to make you move easily, that helps a lot.
“I think we were discussing yesterday where we thought Kimi would finish and I think I said a podium and it turns out he got the top step. Clearly he did a good job.”
