McLaren had their worst outing of recent years with a double DNS in China, but ahead of the 2026 F1 Japanese GP, both drivers are confident that the team will turn the fortunes around.
Piastri says cause of McLaren double DNS at China is clear of Japanese GP
Oscar Piastri revealed in a print media session that the teams in both Woking and Brixworth have successfully identified the issue. In the end it were electrical gremlins that prevented both drivers from starting.
The Australian explains: “We found what went wrong with the electrical problem on the [Mercedes] HPP side of the power unit. So yeah, obviously a shame, but I think we’ve got to put a lot of joint effort into understanding the problem, make sure it doesn’t happen again.
“So yeah, we know what the problem is.”
Asked whether Andrea Stella has retained his positive F1 philosophy, the 24-year-old was clear.
“Yes,” Piastri stated unambiguously. “I think, again, there’s not much we can do as a team apart from learn from what went wrong and go forwards. China in particular was nothing that was out of our control that we could change.
“Obviously we’re working with HPP. Regardless of where the issue lies or who it lies with, at the end of the day no one wants to see two cars not starting the race. We’re working hard to try and fix that as well.”
Norris would rather be behind now than to have missed out on last year’s title
Ahead of the 2026 F1 Japanese GP, the other McLaren driver, Lando Norris, backed his teammate regarding the issues in China. He emphasised the partnership with Mercedes-AMG HPP, and praised their collaboration.
“Yes. Alongside HPP, I think it took a little bit of time to figure things out, but yes,” Norris answered in the press conference on whether the cause of the issue was found.
“Of course it hurt us as a team, certainly didn’t make us look good to have two cars not starting a race. I think what hurt more is the fact it was out of our control.
“But with HPP we’ve worked hard to figure things out, to understand how it happened, why it happened, and of course we’ll do everything we can to make sure it doesn’t happen again. But you live and you learn. It was a tough one for all of us.
“None of us want to have a weekend like that, and especially start a Sunday like that. So yeah, it hurt a lot, but I think at the same time it’s a good time for us to learn and step back and move on to this weekend.”
McLaren’s potential is there ahead of 2026 F1 Japanese GP, Norris explains
In addition to the missed points, the lack of track time in Shanghai also meant less data for developing the car. Norris however feels the MCL40 has much more speed to be uncovered.
“The car has a lot of potential,” he explains. “We’re certainly not where we wanted to be, but I think… The real question you probably ask is would I rather be here and have won last year, or would I rather have a slightly better car now and not have won last year, and I think you know what my answer would be.
“So, you can’t have the best of everything. As a team we certainly are not where we want to be and where we desire to be, but I think we all know within the team what we can achieve. And now is just as good a time as ever to prove exactly what we can do as a team – against Ferrari, against Mercedes, who are performing very well at the minute.“
Both drivers confident McLaren will return to the front
Being behind Mercedes and Ferrari, both Piastri and Norris feel the team has the skills and experience to get back to the top.
Piastri: “I think we’ve got optimism that we can improve in the future. I think we’ve got the proof that we’ve done that in the past. It’s obviously going to take time, but I think we’re all confident that we can achieve that.
“I think we all have that taste of success now, but we’ll get back to it some time.”
Norris re-emphasises Piastri’s words: “I know all the boys and the girls back in the factory are working very hard and there’s good progress happening. It takes time to improve on some things and it’s not like we’re bad.
“We’re still third-best team at the minute, but we certainly enjoy being first a lot more than third. So, time will tell. We’ve got some things in the pipeline and like I said everyone’s working hard, so we’re ambitious to get back to the top.”
