With the F1 Australian GP opening the season once again in 2026, hometown driver Oscar Piastri spoke to the media about the challenge ahead for McLaren. Piastri reflected on the team’s championship ambitions, the impact of new regulations, and what a strong result in Melbourne would mean.
Three Constructors’ Championship titles in a row
After McLaren secured the last two Formula One Constructors’ Championship titles, Piastri acknowledged expectations are high heading into the 2026 season — but cautioned that the competitive order remains uncertain under the latest regulations at the Australian GP.
“We’ll have to wait and see,” Piastri said. “It’s a very different regulation set. It would be very optimistic to say we’re going to have the same form as we did here 12 months ago.”
While Piastri remains confident the team is competitive, the Melbourne-born driver suggested that rivals could currently hold a slight edge based on pre-season test running at the 2026 F1 Australian GP.
“I think we’re somewhere towards the front, but from testing it kind of feels like Mercedes and Ferrari have got a little bit on us and Red Bull, I would say.” He explained, “Things are chopping and changing so quickly as everyone learns and brings things to the car, so we’ll have to wait and see.”
Despite heading into the weekend with uncertainty for the first race of the season, Piastri still believes McLaren can still achieve a strong result at Albert Park if development for the team continues in the right direction.
“Last year we were coming here with very, very high hopes that we could achieve something special. This year I think we can still have a good result, but to achieve the same kind of performance we’re going to have to find a bit more.”
Continuing his personal development
Since joining F1, Piastri has consistently improved with each off-season, but he admits evaluating his progress before the first race remains difficult.
“Difficult to know because we’ve not started yet. What’s different this year, obviously, is the regulation reset.”
Even so, the lessons that Piastri learnt over his early years in F11 should still be valuable.
“Having some of the off-seasons I’ve had previously and some of the things I’ve learned from that is definitely transferable into this year,” Piastri explained. “But some of the challenges and driving style changes and things we’re looking at are pretty different to what we’ve seen ever, probably.”
Despite the new challenges, he remains optimistic about continuing his upward trajectory.
“I’m confident that I can take another step forward, hopefully using the same kind of process as what I have the last few years, and we’ll see where we end up.”
Dreams of a home title victory at the F1 Australian GP
Piastri was in a close battle in the 2025 F1 Australian GP, for the win against teammate Lando Norris, with both dominating for much of the season opener, but a heavy rain shower on Lap 44 of 57 changed the picture drastically.
Both drivers were met by full wet conditions as they entered the final sector. They both slid into the gravel at Turn 12, with Piastri going slightly deeper than Norris and unable to recover on track in time for Turn 13. The Australian slid into the grass, and had to reverse his machinery back onto the track, losing his victory hopes.
With the F1 Australian GP opening the season once again for 2026, Piastri admitted that the prospects of winning in front of his home fans would be particularly special.
“If I had a dollar for every time I got asked that, I’d be… a few dollars richer!” he joked. “It would be really special. Every driver wants to win their home race and that’s no different for me.”
However, he stressed that the team’s competitiveness will ultimately determine what is possible in Melbourne.
“Having it as a season opener, there’s always a large element of the unknown there. I would love to win here. If we’ve got the car to do it – even if we don’t – then I’ll be trying my absolute best to, but we’ll have to wait and see what kind of performance we’ve got.”
New challenges across different circuits for the Australian
Piastri also highlighted how the new regulations could significantly change how teams approach different circuits throughout the season, not only the F1 Australian GP.
“What is going to be unique and a challenge for us to learn this year is, in the past you’ve kind of gone from track to track and it’s got different grip levels, different downforce levels, things like that, but the fundamental way you drive the car and the engine has never really been a big factor,” he said.
Under the updated rules, however, the power unit could play a much bigger role in how teams optimise performance at each venue.
“Whereas now, from track to track, the engine—or the power unit—is probably going to be the biggest factor in how you set things up and how you get the most out of it, how you get the best lap time,” Piastri explained.
“So how you attack different tracks is going to look pretty different, and the things we need to do are going to look pretty different. Getting on top of those and understanding those is going to be the biggest challenge.”
