FORMULA 1 F1 CALENDAR 2026 LEWIS HAMILTON MOTOGP RUMOURS

Piastri admits McLaren 'overly optimistic' prior to Mercedes' qualifying dominance

Photo: Race Pictures

12:30, 07 Mar

byHenry Eccles

Oscar Piastri has said McLaren were "overly optimistic" before Australian GP qualifying, and admitted he was surprised by the gap between Mercedes and the rest of the field after a dominant one-two display.

Piastri topped the timing charts in FP2, but could only finish in P5 on Saturday, with teammate Lando Norris just behind by nearly a tenth, while George Russell aced qualifying with a pole position eight tenths ahead of the next non-Mercedes driver (Isack Hadjar).

Piastri also commented on what the MCL40 is like to drive, after a raft of complaints from other drivers, including Norris, on how the 2026 cars performed in their first round of qualifying.

Piastri shocked by Mercedes' qualifying one-two

Photo: Race Pictures

Speaking to the media, Piastri was asked whether he was surprised by Mercedes' performance even if rivals had predicted they would start 2026 as the frontrunners.

"Yes,' Piastri responded: "I think yesterday probably painted an overly optimistic picture for us but we felt like we were in the mix and after FP3 we definitely didn't feel like we were in the mix.

“After FP3, by far the biggest thing was straight line speed. I don't know if it's the same after qualifying, but I think that's clearly something we need to understand.

“I think for me, the biggest thing was we didn't seem to gain very much, or I certainly didn't seem to gain very much through qualifying. I don't know if that was car, driver.

“Certainly the way you have to try and go faster is complex. Clearly the way you naturally want to go fast doesn't work, but maybe there needs to be more restraint or look into that.”

Piastri's teammate Norris claimed that F1 has gone from "the best cars ever made" to the "probably the worst," and while the Australian was not quite has harsh in his own assessment, it is clear he is also not overly happy with the new crop of cars.

"It’s different. I think everyone can see the state of things. It’s the same as we imagined.

“We'll have different challenges at other tracks because the tracks are kind of in two categories at the moment of being energy-starved and energy-rich. And there's a problem with either of those things. But I think when you're energy-starved like this, it's a lot more obvious to everyone watching.

“I don't know what the Mercedes lap looks like, but we were lifting and coasting three times a lap. We had two superclips through the lap. And in some corners we've got effectively 450 horsepower less.”

Norris blasts new F1 cars in scathing assessment

As mentioned, the reigning world champion, who qualified in sixth place for the Australian Grand Prix, did not hesitate to air his scathing thoughts about his dislike for the new cars, claiming the new rule set "just doesn't work."

Read here to find out more on Norris' post-qualifying thoughts.