Oscar Piastri (McLaren): “We haven’t had that many of them since Baku”

Where do the Formula 1 teams really stand ahead of qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia? Friday’s practice sessions painted a mixed picture. The circuit is new to most drivers and new to all of them in the current cars. On top of that, hardly any teams set really fast lap times; the focus was very much on long runs. A glance at the timesheets was therefore not particularly revealing.

McLaren struggled in FP1

On Saturday, the picture seemed at least a little clearer after the final practice session: the Mercedes upgrades appear to be working – at least Kimi Antonelli comfortably topped the timesheets in FP3. Red Bull Racing is clearly the main challenger to Mercedes, with Max Verstappen finishing second. Ferrari slotted in behind them in 5th and 6th places, with McLaren in 7th and 8th. The Papaya team had been a long way off the pace in FP1. McLaren driver Oscar Piastri said: “To be honest, we had a lot of difficulties in the first free practice session. Things are looking more positive now.”

Piastri was also back on track with the so-called ‘Macarena’ wing. This is the famous swivelling rear wing that Ferrari devised at the start of the season and which has since been adopted by most teams. Did the swivelling wing cause Papaya any problems? Piastri, with a weary smile: “No, it wasn’t a cause for concern. It’s more that we don’t have very many of them left after Baku. So, no, everything was fine.”

In Baku, Piastri’s team-mate Lando Norris was, after all, taken out by Franco Colapinto. At the time, McLaren had just fitted a freshly revised version of their special rear wing, which they call the ‘H-wing’. Ideally, then, no McLaren should crash out at Sepang – otherwise parts could quickly run short. The factory in Woking, UK, is a long way away, and the race in Singapore is coming up as early as next week.

Top four evenly matched – McLaren takes a tiny step back

Piastris’s prediction (as things stand after FP2): “I think it looks pretty evenly matched between the top four teams. I reckon Red Bull looked very strong all day. I think Mercedes looked strong at times too. And, of course, Ferrari were pretty good back then. So, you could say it’s been everyone’s turn, in a way, to be reasonably competitive. I reckon we’re perhaps a tiny step behind, but we’ve made great progress since the first free practice session. Hopefully we can continue this trend, and we’ll see where we end up.”

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04.10.2026 - 08:10