Piastri reacts to McLaren MCL40 as F1 2026 ‘speculation’ put to bed in Barcelona test

Talk surrounding the new F1 2026 cars did not always put them in a positive light ahead of pre-season, so Oscar Piastri was glad to squash the “speculation” in Barcelona.

After getting behind the wheel of the MCL40 for the first time, Piastri felt that the new machines are “still a Formula 1 car” and behave as an F1 car should in many ways, putting the “speculation” which hung over this new era to bed.

Oscar Piastri on F1 2026 car: ‘Not as alien’ as thought may have been

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Smaller, lighter cars, active aerodynamics, plus 50/50 electric and biofuel engines are all in play for F1 2026. It is one of the biggest year to year shake-ups which the sport has ever seen.

Ahead of this new formula, the outlook from drivers had not always been universally positive.

Verstappen had said back in 2023 that the new engine rules looked “very bad.” More recently, Lance Stroll described the revamped regulations as “a bit sad” in regards to driving experience in Formula 1.

Energy management is set to play a key role with the beefed up batteries. Piastri’s McLaren teammate, and reigning World Champion Lando Norris, described that as the “biggest challenge” facing manufacturers right now.

Several drivers also confirmed that downshifting/lifting and coasting on the straights to manage the battery could be a factor at times.

However, when it comes to the driving experience, Piastri argues that it is not as bad as some of the “speculation” had suggested.

“They definitely look pretty different to what we’ve had the last generation of cars,” Piastri told PlanetF1.com and others.

“A little bit smaller, which is always nice. And I think from the front of the car, they just look a bit more nimble. The front wing is much narrower. I think they look cool.

“They sound a little bit different, mostly the same. But in terms of driving them, there’s obviously some pretty big differences with how the power units work.

“I think it was nice to go to Barcelona and actually drive it on track. There’s a lot of talk and kind of speculation from, I think, everyone, including us as drivers, about what it was going to be like. And it was nice to get out in Barcelona and kind of discover that it’s still a Formula 1 car. It still behaves how a Formula 1 car should in a lot of ways.

“Some of the things that we thought might be challenges definitely are challenges, but not as alien as I think they might have been.”

He added: “Things are a little bit different. I think the engine sound in the car is a little bit different. So that’s probably the first thing you get used to.

“And then just how the power is kind of used. Obviously, when you’re at full power out of a corner, you’ve got a lot of power, more than we had last year, and less downforce, less actual tyre surface on the track as well, because they’re narrower, so you’ve got a lot of power and less grip.

“And then just learning some of the things we’re going to have to do, some of the clipping, the lift and coast, those kind of things. Obviously, done lift and coast before for different reasons, but doing that for kind of different purposes, is just rewiring your brain a little bit.

“Not necessarily learning a new skill, but learning a new reason and a new understanding of why you’ve got to do things.

“So, yeah, there’s those kind of things to get used to, but at the end of the day, it still feels quick.”

The F1 machinery of 2026 still “feels similar in some ways” for Piastri. Though, as he already touched on, there are differences.

Piastri was asked whether one of those differences is a car which feels more flighty at high speed or under braking with the reduced downforce.

“I think for me, it’s quite different to what we had last year,” he said. “With the ground effect cars, you generated a lot of downforce when you were super low to the ground. So it was almost an exponential amount of downforce you gained at high speed. Whereas this year, going back to more over body kind of aero.

“And just the way it behaves is a bit different. And I think just the characteristics of the cars are going to be quite different. The ground effect cars were pretty specific in the way you had to drive them, especially on the way into a lot of corners. So maybe there’ll be a bit more leeway to manage that a bit better this year.

“We’ve obviously only done three days of testing, but yeah, there’s definitely some pretty fundamental differences, I would say, in the way the car feels.”

More F1 2026 talking points via PlanetF1.com

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One particular area of interest with this ruleset is the new ‘Overtake Mode’ which has replaced DRS. Rather than opening the rear wing to dump drag, drivers will be able to call upon this boost of electrical power when within one second of the car ahead.

Piastri was quizzed on whether he got the chance to experience any passing speed differences when driving the new McLaren in Barcelona.

“I got close to a couple of cars, and I made one overtake, which was pretty peaky speed difference,” he confirmed, “but I think that person was just being nice and letting me pass.

“I think the speed differences will be maybe a little bit bigger, potentially, than what we had with DRS. But I don’t think there’s going to be any dangerous scenarios of cars doing wildly different speeds.

“It’s going to be interesting to see how Overtake Mode works, and kind of the extra harvesting you can do from that. It’s going to throw up some some curveballs in that regard.

“So, yeah, we’ll see if they’re better for racing. I hope they will be. But until we get to Melbourne, unfortunately, we’re not going to know.”

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

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