Oscar Piastri believes that the 2026 Canadian Grand Prix could quickly turn into a lottery with the expected arrival of heavy rain on the Gilles-Villeneuve circuit.
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Fourth on the grid behind the two Mercedes and his teammate Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri approaches the race with many uncertainties. The McLaren driver believes that no one really knows how the new 2026 cars will behave under heavy rain.
The main problem comes from the new 50/50 power units, combining equally thermal engine and electric energy, but also from the Pirelli intermediate tires which are already causing several concerns in the paddock.
“It’s going to be very complicated, the Australian admitted before the race. We have hardly ever driven these cars in the rain. Personally, I have never driven this car in wet conditions.”
Two major problems worry Piastri
According to the McLaren driver, teams will have to manage simultaneously two potentially huge difficulties: the behavior of the tires and that of the new power units.
The Gilles-Villeneuve circuit being already known to be tricky in the rain, Piastri expects to see several drivers in difficulty.
“Engines do not like irregular conditions at all, he explained. And in the rain, it is impossible to be consistent in driving. So this is likely to create a lot of problems all over the grid.”
When journalists ask him which element will be the most difficult to master between the tires and the engine, his answer is straightforward: “Everything!”
Pirelli tires also pointed out
Piastri also admits that the feedback heard about the intermediate tires is not particularly reassuring.
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“I haven’t heard many positive things about the intermediate wet tires, he confided. And engines are already complicated to manage in dry and stable conditions, so in the rain it will be even worse.”
However, the McLaren driver believes that the engine problem will mainly translate into a significant loss of performance per lap, while the tires could have a direct impact on safety and driving errors.
“The engine will probably cost a lot of time per lap. But the tires represent a much bigger risk when they don’t work properly.”
Even engineers don’t know what to expect
McLaren had already tried to anticipate this scenario during the Miami weekend, where rain was also forecast before ultimately sparing the race.
The British team then carried out many simulations to better understand the behavior of the new F1 cars in the rain. But according to Piastri, the conclusions remain very unclear.
“The conclusion is that no one really knows what will happen, he admitted. When hundreds of the world’s best engineers don’t know exactly what to expect, it shows how much we are moving into the unknown.”
With threatening weather conditions and cars still poorly understood in these circumstances, the Canadian Grand Prix could well become one of the most unpredictable races of this 2026 F1 season.
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