McLaren driver Oscar Piastri finished in P6 at the 2026 F1 São Paulo GP as the Australian recovered from a disappointing qualifying session.
Starting in 10th once the penalties to Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc got applied, the 25-year-old cleared Bearman and Alonso on the first lap as they had an awkward tangle out of Turn 3 because of a snap for the Haas driver in slippery conditions.
After losing a place to the rampaging Max Verstappen, he eventually passed Alex Albon on Lap 7. It became P7 two tours later as Nico Hülkenberg was overtaken.
Once he moved up to P5 on Lap 23 by passing Liam Lawson, Oscar Piastri had a significant gap to the cars in front. Over 24s behind race leader and teammate Lando Norris by the 28th tour, the gap was 23.9s 20 laps later, showing the Australian had very strong pace in the fully dry conditions.
The driver of car #81 boxed again on Lap 51, losing a spot to George Russell. A gamble by the Brit to stay out paid off as the rain arrived again in the closing stages. It meant Oscar Piastri had to settle for a lonely P6 in the 2026 F1 São Paulo GP.
Oscar Piastri encouraged by his speed at the 2026 F1 São Paulo GP
From P10 on the grid, fighting for a podium or win was very unlikely for Oscar Piastri at Interlagos. Even though he ended up 56.4s behind his race winning teammate Lando Norris at the flag, it was a very encouraging Sunday in a difficult campaign for the 25-year-old. Strong pace in the fully dry conditions and some competitive laps on the inters vs his World Champion stablemate was clear progress for him.
Speaking in the print media pen post-race, Oscar Piastri took the positives from the 2026 F1 São Paulo GP.
“I think it was pretty good to be honest. I think after the first 10 laps or so, things felt pretty good. The pace was strong at some points, quite honestly for the rest of the race the pace was pretty good.
“We just need to work on how we improve in qualifying, and also some of the decisions we made [on Saturday] weren’t maybe the best.
“But yeah, honestly it was nice to just be able to say we’re quick in a large part of the race.”
Seeing George Russell facing the wrong way on pit exit
When the crossover to slicks came pretty early in the 71-lap contest, Oscar Piastri found himself having to use the kerb and some grass on pit exit as George Russell had spun and blocked part of it. Fortunately, Hadjar, Lawson and Piastri could all get around him.
Unsurprisingly, it was not a nice moment for the Aussie.
“Scary.
“Obviously he was stuck in the middle of the road, so it didn’t make things easy at all. But yeah, glad that I could avoid him.”
A close finish against Red Bull Racing coming at the end of F1 2026
A P1 with Lando Norris and a P6 for Oscar Piastri meant McLaren scored the same amount of points as Red Bull (33) at the 2026 F1 São Paulo GP. It means the gap remains at 17.
McLaren brought upgrades to Brazil and they showed promising signs as both drivers looked quick in the dry practice sessions. In the dry part of the race on Sunday, they were also really fast, although Mercedes looked a shade quicker when their drivers were not making mistakes and struggling for initial tyre temp.
Oscar Piastri is hopeful they can overhaul the Milton Keynes-based squad in the final triple-header of F1 2026.
“Just keep learning, and ultimately try and beat Red Bull in the Constructors’ Championship, that’s the big thing. It’s not going to be an easy task for sure, but I think it’s possible
“I think the car took a step forward this weekend, so hopefully that keeps going for the last three races.”
