Oscar Piastri (McLaren): “We have more or less no control”

Will new parts help McLaren make progress in Budapest? Papaya is bringing a major upgrade package to the final race before the summer break in Hungary. Papaya driver Oscar Piastri: “We should be able to keep up a bit better than we did at Spa. We’ve brought some upgrades with us.” McLaren has brought a new underbody and other aerodynamic parts. An experimental rear wing is also set to be tested briefly during one session.

Hopefully faster in Budapest

Piastri on the new parts: “To be honest, I don’t know if I’ve tested them in the simulator. It should be faster – that’s all that matters to me. So fingers crossed that it works out.”

So far, Piastri and McLaren aren’t satisfied in that regard. The Australian on the season so far: “There have been ups and downs – probably more downs, unfortunately. It’s definitely not the first half of the season we would have hoped for as a team, especially when you think back to last year.” In 2025, McLaren won both world championship titles.

After last week’s race at Spa, there had been increasing complaints about the regulations. On the high-speed circuit through the Belgian Ardennes, recharging the hybrid units’ batteries had proved particularly difficult.

Before the race in Budapest, Piastri was asked to explain his criticism in a little more detail: “I’d probably need half an hour to give the full answer. Even with the earlier hybrid engines, it was very much about learning, coding and AI to a certain extent. When I came into Formula 1, the engines were very mature. The penalties, so to speak, didn’t have such a strong impact. Now it accounts for pretty much half the power.”

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26.07.2026 - 17:15

No control!

In a nutshell, that means: “We have more or less no control over when energy is released. We can press the boost button, but that’s more about overtaking than qualifying. When it makes such a difference and you have little control over it, it can be frustrating.”

The McLaren driver: “It’ll get better. I don’t think it’ll ever go away completely. But as the engine manufacturers get to grips with it better and better, it might improve a bit.” At least energy management shouldn’t be a problem in Budapest.