Oscar Piastri goes into the F1 British GP with a 15-point lead over McLaren teammate Lando Norris as the Brit got back on track in every sense by winning in Austria last Sunday.
The Woking-based team introduced a suspension update — not an upgrade — in Canada to help Lando Norris get a better feeling for the MCL39. It was a complaint from the 2024 Drivers’ Championship runner-up from the start of this year.
Even though Norris won the season opener in Melbourne, Oscar Piastri has generally been the quicker driver throughout the season so far. The Australian has looked more comfortable with McLaren’s 2025 F1 challenger and its original suspension layout.
Oscar Piastri has no interest in using the new McLaren MCL39 F1 suspension
Speaking in a print media session ahead of the F1 British GP this weekend, Oscar Piastri explained he is more than happy to keep driving with the old MCL39 suspension that has worked well for him.
The 24-year-old from Melbourne explained the importance of continuity to be able to focus on set-up to extract maximum performance. Genuine car improvements for lap time are also his focus.
“I’ve not used it ever, yet.
“The thing is, for me, it’s not an upgrade. It’s just something that is different.
“It makes some things potentially a bit better. It makes some things a bit worse. If it was just all benefits, I would be putting it on and with no questions asked.
“But for me, I’ve not really struggled with that kind of particular feeling.
“The year has been going pretty well, so I’m more keen to just keep the car consistent and worry about how we get the most out of the set-up and the other upgrades we actually have, than this change to the suspension.”
The 2025 F1 title fight between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris
Following Max Verstappen’s DNF in Austria last weekend, the four-time World Champion heads to the F1 British GP 61 points adrift of Oscar Piastri in the title race.
The swings between the McLaren drivers at recent rounds have been interesting. Norris won in Monaco; Piastri struck back in Spain.
A dreadful error in Canada saw Norris lose 12 points to his Aussie teammate when he crashed into him, but the Brit responded well in Austria.
Addressing the last couple of rounds and the rest of the year ahead of the British GP, Oscar Piastri explained he felt a little bit on the back foot in Montreal. He was much happier with his race pace at the Red Bull Ring.
“I think it is a very tight battle, and I think it will be for the rest of the year.
“I think Canada, I don’t think it was the best Sunday for me, definitely, in terms of pace, but I think last weekend was probably one of the better ones.
“Qualifying, ultimately we’ll never know what was possible, but my first lap of Q3, the only lap of Q3, was not great, even compared to some of my Q2 laps.
“I think last weekend I was happy with my pace, especially on Sunday, but I expect it to ebb and flow through the year.
“The weekends where either of us put our absolute best forward is probably enough for either of us to win. It’s just that doing that and finding 100% of your potential instead of 99% or 99.5% is very, very difficult.
“So I think that’s been the difference so far for this year, but I think we’re very evenly matched, and on our good days, either of us are very hard to beat.”
