McLaren team principal Andrea Stella does not see Oscar Piastri’s ongoing problems as a psychological issue. According to the Italian, the Australian mainly struggles with the technical characteristics of the current F1 cars, which means his natural driving style is less effective. After leading the world championship convincingly for a long time in 2025, Piastri has now gone more than a year without winning a Grand Prix.
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Piastri had a strong season in 2025, during which he led the championship in 15 of the 24 races. However, after a noticeable dip in form towards the end of the year, he dropped back to third place. In 2026, the McLaren driver also seems to be struggling. After twelve races, he is seventh with 104 championship points, and his second place in Japan is currently his best result. Piastri especially seems to struggle on circuits with low grip. This is particularly notable since the new generation of cars is already less stable due to changed aerodynamics and the lack of ground effect.
According to Stella, this calls for a different way of driving. “We already saw last year with Oscar (Piastri, ed.) that he needs to adapt technically when the car has so little grip,” he responded to the media at Zandvoort. “That applies to his driving style, his way of thinking, and his expectations. That requires mental effort, causing him to lose a few tenths of a second.” The McLaren team principal emphasized that Piastri therefore has to think more while driving, whereas he is normally strong when he can ‘fully trust his instinct’.
Not a psychological issue
“In this case, he has to adjust his natural driving style to the demands of the car. That is not something psychological,” Stella dismissed the idea that Piastri is mentally broken after last year. “This is purely technical.” According to Stella, clear improvements were also visible in Zandvoort. “Oscar set competitive lap times, but other factors worked against him in the race. The team made a slow pit stop, causing him to lose his position to Russell. Additionally, the hard tires in his second stint were not good enough. He constantly had very little grip. Those are things we need to work on.”
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“But I want to add that we are in a phase of Formula 1 where at least three teams are within a tenth of a second of each other,” Stella noted. “As soon as the setup is not optimal, that can result in a significant loss of positions. If you don’t perform optimally, you end up P6. In that respect, it is a difficult season, so I think we just have to keep working with Oscar on all possibilities. I am happy with the improvements I have seen this weekend and I am convinced that more will follow for the rest of the season.”
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