Piastri makes telling McLaren admission over 2025 title heartbreak
Foto: RacePictures
Kieran is a freelance Formula 1 journalist for GPblog, covering breaking news, live race blogs and feature content across the F1 calendar. An NQJ-qualified journalist with more than a decade of experience, he has previously written for publications including MailOnline, the Manchester Evening News and the Eastern Daily Press.
Oscar Piastri has admitted McLaren would handle aspects of his failed 2025 championship challenge differently, acknowledging that some of those moments had a significant impact on the title battle.
The Australian led the standings for much of last season and led the standings by 34 points with nine races to go after his victory at the Dutch Grand Prix. However, he finished on the podium just one more time in the following seven races, finishing third in the championship behind teammate Lando Norris and Max Verstappen.
Reflecting on how his title bid unravelled, Piastri accepted that he struggled for pace towards the end of last season, but also pointed out to lessons that McLaren had learned.
“[It was] for a number of reasons, really,” he told the Up to Speed podcast. I think there were a couple of places where I just struggled for pace, and I think again some of those specifics are also present this year. I think also as a team we would definitely do some things a bit differently if we did it again.
“The impact of some of those things was big sometimes. And again, I think as a team we know what we would do differently if we were in that position this year.”
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Piastri explains why title heartbreak has softened this season’s struggles
That victory in the Netherlands last season is still Piastri's last time on the top step of the podium. His drop-off in form has carried over to 2026 as he has struggled to adapt to the new regulations, with just two podium finishes to his name.
His teammate Norris has enjoyed a far more successful season with his victory in Interlagos making it three wins and six podiums to his name, currently sitting 94 points ahead of Piastri in the standings.
Despite the disappointment of missing out on last season’s crown, Piastri suggested that entering this campaign as champion would have made his current difficulties even harder to accept.
“I think, honestly, in some ways, last year going the way it did, I think if it had gone better last year, it would have made this year even more painful.”
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He added: "I think a lot of the struggles this year, or all the struggles this year, are unrelated to what happened last year. It's been a separate issue, and this year has definitely taught me a lot. I feel like I'm getting on top of some of these struggles.”
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