Although the results are not yet up to expectations in 2026, Oscar Piastri believes this season allows him to take an important step forward in his F1 progression in the shadow of Lando Norris.
Read more Isack Hadjar has found consistency and can now aim for the podium regularly
After contributing to McLaren’s constructors’ title in 2025 and pushing his teammate Lando Norris to the last round in the fight for the drivers’ championship, the Australian approached this new season with great ambitions.
The first eleven races, however, were marked by a mix of podiums, missed opportunities, and reliability issues.
Ups and downs
Currently seventh in the championship with 102 points, Piastri is still searching for his first win of the season but refuses to consider this first half of the year a failure.
“Good results are one thing, but I mainly feel I have learned a lot about how to improve as a driver, even if the results don’t always reflect it,” he explains.
McLaren is also going through a tougher season than expected. Third in the constructors’ championship with 220 points, the team is 159 points behind Mercedes and 87 behind Ferrari. Retirements, reliability problems, especially in Hungary, as well as two withdrawals before the start, have prevented the team from regaining the level of dominance shown in 2025.
Read more Romain Grosjean in the top 10 on the grid in Portland tonight, live on Canal +
Piastri sums up this first part of the season as a series of ups and downs: “Our overall performance level has not been what we hoped for. We have been close to victory several times and secured a few podiums, which is positive, but we set the bar very high last year. We also had difficult races and reliability issues.”
Capitalizing on accumulated experience
Rather than dwelling on these disappointments, the 25-year-old driver prefers to highlight the lessons learned from this season. He notably cites the Japanese and Miami Grands Prix as his best weekends in terms of results but considers Austria as an important turning point.
Starting only seventh on the grid at the Red Bull Ring, he finished fourth after a very difficult Spanish Grand Prix, where he crossed the line nearly a minute behind the winner Lewis Hamilton.
“Austria was a very good weekend, not just for the result but also because I managed to bounce back after Barcelona,” recalls Oscar. “Spain was one of my most challenging weekends of the year. I had to learn and improve a lot, and I felt I was putting those lessons into practice from the very next race.”
For Piastri, this ability to turn difficulties into experience is ultimately the main positive point of this season. Even if wins are still awaited, the Australian believes the obstacles encountered will help him become a more complete driver when McLaren regularly returns to the front. After only four seasons in Formula 1, he is therefore convinced that his progression curve is clearly heading in the right direction.
Read more Otmar Szafnauer: Aston Martin is paying today for mistakes made several years ago