Piastri reveals AI leaves F1 drivers 'like passengers' as Baku energy test looms

The McLaren driver said he has "no control over where the deployment happens, more or less," and detailed how the systems created stark inconsistencies at Spa-Francorchamps.

"Even in Spa, a lot of the middle sector we were doing it just on the combustion engine, with no battery assistance at all, which is a weird feeling in itself, having some corners with a certain amount of power and others with full power," Piastri said.

Piastri called the Belgian Grand Prix "particularly frustrating, not just for me but for quite a lot of others," because the small differences in the code and what the engines did made quite a big difference in lap time.

"Especially at the front of the field, I think there were still only nine hundredths or something separating four positions, and there were definitely more than nine hundredths on the table for quite a few drivers from things they could not control," he added.

The issue is track-dependent. Piastri said he does not "expect there to be many problems at all" at circuits with shorter straights like the Hungaroring or Zandvoort, "because the straights are so much shorter, so even if there are differences, they should be a lot less." But at tracks like Spa or Silverstone, "it's going to be worse," making Baku's main straight of more than 2,200 metres, the longest of the entire season, a critical test when F1 arrives for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, scheduled from Thursday September 24 to Saturday September 26 with the race taking place on Saturday.

The AI deployment debate has been a recurring theme this season, with the new regulations dividing opinion and drivers including Max Verstappen and Lando Norris voicing their disapproval of what many have dubbed "yo-yo racing."

Piastri's broader challenges in 2026 extend beyond the energy systems: McLaren team principal Andrea Stella recently confirmed the team is deploying additional engineering resources to Piastri's car, identifying the core of his struggles as "purely technical," as GPblog reported.