Piastri reveals McLaren ‘problems and limitations’ after first MCL40 running

Oscar Piastri says McLaren has a better understanding of the MCL40’s “problems and limitations” following the Barcelona F1 2026 shakedown last week.

McLaren recorded almost 300 laps across three days of running in Spain where 10 of the 11 teams were in action in a behind closed doors test, where teams could run on any three of the five days.

Oscar Piastri: ‘Problems, limitations, understandings’

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McLaren opted for the final three.

Reigning World Champion Lando Norris put 76 laps on the MCL40, before handing the car over to Piastri for Thursday’s running. The Australian was limited to 48 laps as a fuel system issue cost him track time.

McLaren’s technical director of performance, Mark Temple: “We discovered a fuel system problem, which meant we haven’t been able to do all the running we would like. The car is very complex, so we decided to bring the car back into the garage and strip it down to fully understand where the problem is coming from, ahead of tomorrow’s running.”

The teammates split the driving duties on McLaren’s final day on track, bringing the team’s overall tally to 291 laps with Norris third fastest on the overall timesheet with a 1:16.594, two-tenths down on Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton.

But while Piastri was 1.1s off the pace, the 24-year-old was happy with the shakedown test as he felt he established a good rhythm in the all-new McLaren.

The test did, however, inform McLaren about a few “problems and limitations” that the team can now work on before heading to Bahrain for the first official pre-season test from 11 February.

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In F1 2026, teams are running all-new cars, Formula 1 have scrapped the ground-effect aerodynamic design of the last four years to return to overbody aerodynamics. The cars are also shorter, lighter and incorporate active aerodynamics.

The engine formula has also been tweaked with the PU powered by fully sustainable fuel and including a 50/50 split between combustion and electrical power.

“I feel like I got into a pretty good rhythm and was able to start to feel what the car is actually like, which was nice. Tried a few things already to see how we can improve it, and stuff like that,” he said.

“But yeah, just trying to run it in different configurations and stuff like that, to see what it’s like for race weekend.

“Still definitely a lot to learn, especially on the power unit side of things. Just how you get the most of it and how you go the fastest, basically.

“So still plenty of things to learn there [about the engine]. But I think we’ve kind of understood some of the problems, some of the limitations. Some of the things are just different compared to last year – both on the power unit and the car.

“Obviously the car itself, it’s got a lot less downforce than what we had last year as well. So getting used to that and how that feel has been the biggest thing we’ve started to get ourselves into.”

He added: “The main thing for Mercedes HPP is trying to understand the power unit as well, and we’re trying to help them.

“Any information that they can get from Lando and I, is very helpful, but even just running the power unit is very helpful for them.

“So there are a lot of things going on at once, but everyone has got slightly different priorities, but they’re trying to make us all as quick as possible.”

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