Oscar Piastri has finally opened up about why the 2026 Formula 1 cars have been such a struggle for him this season. The McLaren driver was invited onto the BBC's Chequered Flag podcast to share his perspective on a year that's seen him badly outpaced by teammate Lando Norris. Piastri won seven races last year and fought for the championship, but things have gone downhill fast in 2026. Norris has claimed both of McLaren's wins this season, grabbed all three poles, and scored five of the team's seven podiums. That's left Piastri 66 points adrift and finishing ahead of his teammate in just three races all year.

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The Australian reckons the new generation of cars, with their reduced downforce and tendency to slide around, simply don't suit how he naturally drives. The bigger issue? These machines have so much throttle control needed that drivers can't lean on exit speed like they used to. Piastri explained that his bread and butter has always been finding speed through the middle of corners and on the way out, but the 2026 regulations demand a completely different approach. You need to be mega patient with the throttle, waiting way longer than feels natural just to manage the power and battery. It's a style that doesn't come naturally to him after years of building his career the old way.

Here's where it gets interesting. Piastri pointed out that Mercedes driver George Russell is in an almost identical pickle, having been beaten by young teammate Kimi Antonelli despite dominating him in 2025. They're also separated by 66 points. Piastri sees similarities in which tracks suit each of them and reckons the new cars reward a very specific driving style that neither he nor Russell possesses. It's basically a club nobody wanted to join.

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Cue Jolyon Palmer, the former Renault driver, weighing in with some spicy takes. Palmer thinks it's actually pretty funny how modern drivers are now banding together to blame the regulations when they struggle. Back when Palmer himself was having a rough time with the 2017 generation of cars, nobody seemed to care or make excuses for him. He never got the sympathy of other struggling drivers trying to collectively explain away their problems. Palmer reckons it's wild that now George Russell is actively trying to group together drivers from different teams who he thinks struggle in similar ways and blame the equipment rather than adapt.

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The Malaysian Grand Prix this weekend could be a turning point for Piastri. Sepang hasn't hosted an F1 race since 2017, so it's unfamiliar territory that might level the playing field a bit. He showed some promise in Baku by qualifying third, though a lock-up during the race completely derailed what could've been a podium. This is his chance to prove he's still got it, new cars or not.

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