McLaren will be looking to defend their constructors’ title for a second straight season, and Oscar Piastri is confident he’ll have the right car for the job. He was part of McLaren’s 2025 campaign, one of the most dominant seasons ever put together by a Formula 1 team.
McLaren will be looking to defend their constructors’ title for a second straight season, and Oscar Piastri is confident he’ll have the right car for the job.
He was part of McLaren’s 2025 campaign, one of the most dominant seasons ever put together by a Formula 1 team.
The team didn’t just win back-to-back championships – they also set a new record with 34 podium finishes in a single season.
They surpassed even Mercedes’ early turbo-hybrid era dominance and Red Bull’s remarkable 2023 run when Max Verstappen won all but three races.
Piastri didn’t come away with the drivers’ title that year, but he gained valuable experience that should help him in future championship bids.
Oscar Piastri Shares His Thoughts on McLaren’s Chances Ahead of the New F1 Season
When asked about McLaren’s prospects under the new regulations during an interview with the Today Show Australia, Piastri gave a measured response, noting how hard it is to predict while outlining the key differences between old and new regulations.
But he did express optimism based on Mercedes’ confidence in their engine performance. “Mercedes seems confident on the engine side of things that we’re in a good place,” Piastri said.
“The impression I’ve always had with McLaren is that it doesn’t really matter what set of rules gets thrown at us. We’ll find a way to make it work and produce a competitive car,” he continued.
Piastri also pointed to McLaren’s ability to adapt quickly, recalling how they turned an uncompetitive car into a title-winning machine within just two seasons.
He said, “That’s what we kind of saw in the last rule set. We started off, as a team, without a particularly competitive car. When I first joined, we were one of the slowest.”
“We managed to turn that around incredibly quickly, into a car that could achieve podiums and then wins, and then you know, now back-to-back constructors’ championships.”
Piastri finished by saying: “So no matter what rules we get thrown at us this time around, I’m confident that we’ll be somewhere at the pointy end.”
A lot of people already believe that they will be ahead again for 2026 due to having one of F1’s best technical teams housed in Woking.
The papaya-adorned squad has fielded arguably F1’s fastest car for much of these past two seasons – further evidence they have found an effective formula for success.
Oscar Piastri thinks new rules will lead to more tactical racing in 2026
Toto Wolff believes Verstappen will have an edge under the new regulations, pointing to the rise of the ‘sim driver generation’ as better suited to handling the increased reliance on electrical power.
Piastri doesn’t single out Verstappen as having a clear advantage, but he does expect the changes to bring more tactical elements into play during races.
“It has been important in the past, but with that element being so much bigger from this season onwards.
“There’s going to be a lot more management of that from the drivers themselves, so, especially at the beginning of the season, you could see some interesting scenarios between drivers where some are more tactical.
“Saving their battery, some are just you know trying to get track position, and it could be an interesting kind of tactical battle there.
“In all honesty, I have no idea how it’s going to pan out, but it’ll be entertaining one way or another.”
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Category: General Sports
