Piastri fuels McLaren hope in Mercedes battle after FIA tweaks with bold claim
Photo: Race Pictures
18:30, 23 Apr
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Samson Ero is a Formula 1 editor at GPblog with seven years of experience in sports media. He covers key developments across the paddock, delivering accurate reporting and insight on drivers, teams, and performance trends, with work published on recognised platforms including Tuko and Legit.ng.
With the FIA introducing several tweaks to the current regulations ahead of the Miami Grand Prix, Oscar Piastri believes the changes could help McLaren close the gap to early pace-setters Mercedes.
Speaking to GPblog and other select media, the Australian expressed cautious optimism, noting that while Mercedes appear to have a stronger understanding of the power unit, the latest adjustments could slightly shift the competitive balance.
Piastri also reflected on McLaren’s strong showing at the Japanese Grand Prix, where he secured a podium finish at Suzuka after a well-executed race from his side of the garage. Responding to whether the new FIA tweaks could help McLaren close in on Mercedes, the 25-year-old said:
“I’d love to say yes, but I don’t really think so. Mercedes, I think they had a better understanding of the power unit and how to get the most out of it. I think in Japan, certainly on my side, obviously it was a pretty compromised weekend on Lando’s [Norris] side, but on my side of the garage, I thought we did a really good job of maximising everything from the power unit and the car that we had.”
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Despite acknowledging McLaren’s current deficit to Mercedes, Piastri expects the gap to narrow slightly as the season progresses, starting with Miami.
“We’re clearly still a fair way behind on, you know, just downforce and performance from the chassis as well. So I’m sure that gap in the power unit understanding will close a little bit, but I guess the deficit in Japan was not that we were lacking time from the power unit or exploited, it was that our car wasn’t as good as theirs. So, I think that’s a good piece of the puzzle now.”
Mercedes have largely set the benchmark under the current F1 regulations, sweeping victories across the opening phase of the 2026 campaign. However, in Japan, Piastri managed to keep both George Russell and Kimi Antonelli behind for long spells of the race, an effort he admitted he was particularly pleased with.
The FIA’s latest set of regulation changes, set to come into effect at the Miami Grand Prix, are expected to influence the competitive order and potentially trigger further shifts in the pecking order as the season develops.
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Piastri warns Mercedes are not unbeatable
Earlier, Piastri warned that the Mercedes team are far from untouchable, as it may appear in the aftermath of his podium finish at the Japanese GP.
The Australian, who claimed second in what was his first race of the campaign, emphasised that having the fastest car alone is not enough to guarantee success, drawing encouragement from his ability to keep Russell at bay for a significant portion of the race.
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04:00 PM
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