Piastri playing the long game at McLaren

12 months ago at the Canadian Grand Prix, Oscar Piastri found himself being hit by his teammate on the pit straight, eliminating Lando Norris and threatening to destabilize the harmony within McLaren.

Any controversy was quickly avoided as Norris instantly took full responsibility, and Piastri could climb out of his car with a 22-point advantage.

Ultimately, the season would slip away slightly from the Australian, as Piastri saw Norris take the title from Max Verstappen and himself at the final round. Yet the disappointment of the overall outcome shouldn’t overshadow another significant step forward in his development, in what was just Piastri’s third season in Formula 1.

Amid such radical regulation changes that require a different driving style, it’s perhaps tougher to see how that progress has continued into season four, but Piastri is confident he is becoming an even stronger driver.

“I think a lot of the lessons and things I've learned in my time in F1 still do carry over into these cars,” Piastri tells RACER. “There's definitely some things that we've had to learn that don't carry over from anything we've ever driven. But, I think you can apply the same kind of work ethic and lessons to a new challenge and I think that's what I've tried to do.

“The previous few off-seasons, I felt like the way we worked was very encouraging. We really found a lot of gains from how we tackle things in the off-season and I think this year has been more a case of just applying that same work ethic and effort into different problems, basically.

“I think we've been able to work on a lot of the things that I needed to work on in my first few years of F1 and they're at a good level. Of course, you try to still gradually improve them, but this year there was some pretty fundamental things to get our heads around. So, I don't think it's really interrupted things, just a very big challenge for everybody.”

This time around in Canada, the championship press isn't quite as intense...which Piastri sees pluses and minuses to. Steven Tee/Getty Images

It would have been understandable for Piastri to be slightly frustrated with the timing of the new regulations being introduced, having become a title contender and McLaren rising to the top of the pecking order. Mercedes’ start to 2026 has reduced Piastri and Norris to outsiders once again, but the 25-year-old says there’s no time to rue the slight reshuffle in terms of competitiveness.

“It does change things a little bit," he admits. "Obviously, in terms of the championship picture, it's not the same, which in some ways takes off a little bit of the pressure, in some ways puts more on, because we still want to win the championship obviously. But, it's just a bit different and we've got so much to focus on.

“Each race we go to at the moment is so different just in terms of the needs from the car, from the power unit especially. Last year we kind of had certain tracks that suited certain cars or suited certain things. This year you've still got a bit of that, but the power unit needs completely different things sometimes from week to week. So, there's just a lot to focus on there, which I think in some ways distracts you or takes your attention away from whatever the championship picture looks like, which is good.

“We've all got similar problems – or the same problems – in how we need to drive these cars, and get the most out of these power units. You can either sit here and complain about them or focus on getting stuck into them and how you can create an advantage.

“I'm sure everybody's probably doing a bit of both, which is only natural; but for me, I think it plays into my strengths in some ways of being able to work out so many new challenges and be able to go through all of these things.

“I think that sometimes doing slightly counterintuitive things and having to think on the fly, I don't think is necessarily a bad thing for me. There's certain things within the driving style you need that maybe I don't love, but on the whole, for good or bad, it's definitely an area you can make a huge difference.”

Part of Piastri’s positive outlook stems from the confidence he has in McLaren, given its recent trend to develop a car through a season. After another encouraging upgrade in Miami, he says his belief in the ability to be in this year’s title fight remains high.

“I think even before this year, we've seen what our rate of development has been like the last few years," he notes. "Yes, the rules are very different now and the philosophy of the cars are very different, but in general, I think we've found a good way of working in terms of upgrading the car and Miami proved that again.

“Yes, it's always been a good circuit for us the last few years, but I think we've still got that same confidence that things we put on the car are going to work and we're finding performance. So, that's a good place to be in.”

That said, since Miami there were rumors that Piastri was a target for Red Bull should Max Verstappen leave the team. It’s something the Australian says is news to him, and in public at least is not entertaining as he envisages his future at McLaren.

“I've seen so much from this team in the last few years," he stresses, "and to go from where we were when I first started, struggling to get into the points, to then fighting for podiums basically halfway through the year, to then fighting for wins the following season and fighting for a championship in the course of three seasons. it's a pretty remarkable achievement that … I was going to say it doesn't happen every day. I don't really know if it happens ever, really!

“So, for me, I've got a lot of confidence in the team and I've got a good relationship with everybody here. I definitely want to stay here and try and fight for a championship again and I think this is my best place to try and achieve that. So, I'm excited for the years to come.”