The internal rules at McLaren for 2025 have been a source of frustration for Oscar Piastri, and he's eager to leave those "headaches" behind!
Formula 1 driver Oscar Piastri, a rising star at McLaren, has openly expressed his support for the team's ongoing efforts to ensure both he and his teammate, Lando Norris, are on an equal footing. The goal is to refine their internal racing policies to avoid creating unnecessary complications. Piastri hopes this will help the team steer clear of self-inflicted "headaches that we didn't need" during the upcoming season.
During the 2026 Autosport Awards, McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella reiterated the team's dedication to this equal driver policy. He hinted that following further discussions with both drivers, the implementation of these policies would be made more efficient. Stella explained, "There are many things in which you can find ways of doing things better. Or, if we can find a way to do the same, but in a simpler way, in a more streamlined way with less work for everyone, then that will be an important improvement for the future."
While Stella didn't dive into the exact details of these upcoming changes, the 2025 season did present a couple of instances where McLaren's approach seemed to add complexity. But here's where it gets controversial...
One such moment occurred at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza. Following a slow pit stop for Norris, McLaren instructed Piastri to let his teammate pass. This decision was met with strong disagreement from Piastri, a feeling that he admitted continued to weigh on him during a challenging weekend in Baku. Another instance involved an initial penalty for Norris after contact with Piastri in Singapore, which was later rescinded. The team then shifted more responsibility onto Piastri for their sprint race clash in Austin, leading to a somewhat confusing back-and-forth.
Speaking to reporters at the official launch of McLaren's MCL40, Piastri described the streamlining of the team's racing principles as a "wise decision." He believes this refinement will help the team sidestep some of the distractions that arose in 2025. "It will look different. As Andrea said, streamlining it is a wise decision to make," Piastri commented on the team's policy. "We probably caused some headaches for ourselves that we didn't need to at points last year. As a general principle and a general kind of way of going racing, it does bring a lot of positives with it, and it's just about: how do we refine that to try and keep it to just positives, basically."
He also touched on how the team's internal dynamics are perceived externally: "There was always a lot more made about it than actually happens and a lot of people that kind of think without knowing the complete inner workings, a lot of things appear differently to how they actually are. [There will be] some tweaks for sure this year, but I think it's pretty clear that we still want to go racing as much as a team as we can."
Piastri emphasized that he felt he received a "fair shot" last year and that his time spent back home in Australia has been instrumental in helping him reset and refocus after the close of the 2025 world championship fight. "Yes, I think I got a fair shot last year and I'm expecting that to stay exactly the same," he stated. "That's definitely not to say that certain things could have been done better last year. I think that was probably clear for everyone watching. But for me, at no point were there any bad intentions, or any times I questioned the intentions of things."
He further elaborated on the benefits of his break: "It was nice to go back to Australia and spend some time with my family and just take a bit of a step away from F1 and racing. The support I had from being in the fight and the amount of comments I got about the way I go about things, was honestly nice to hear. There are a lot of lessons from last year. And yes, the ending was a bit painful, but I think you can treat that in one of two ways, either you can let it bring you down, or give you more confidence and motivation for the future. And I think with such a different rule set as well, that's been a very good avenue to channel any motivation that I gained over the off-season."
Now, we want to hear from you! Do you think McLaren's approach to driver equality, while well-intentioned, has historically created more problems than it solves? Or is it a necessary component for a healthy team dynamic? Share your thoughts in the comments below – we'd love to hear your perspective!
