Oscar Piastri addresses McLaren F1 'disadvantage' concern

Oscar Piastri has denied that McLaren is at a disadvantage this year by not being a works team.

The Woking-based squad has been a customer of Mercedes for several years and won back-to-back constructors' titles in 2024 and 2025, while Lando Norris also triumphed in the drivers' standings last year.

However, the upcoming F1 season is being held under a fresh set of technical regulations, which includes the introduction of a new power unit.

The Mercedes team itself has been working on the engine for several years and has had unfiltered communication between both its power unit and chassis factories.

When asked about the situation from McLaren's perspective, Piastri played down the significance of being a customer squad at the start of a new era. 

“I don't think [so] necessarily,” Piastri told media including RacingNews365.

“Being a works team obviously has its advantages - especially now, given that there is development again on the engine side of things.

“We’ve got a very close relationship with Mercedes HPP, which is very beneficial to us. All our teething problems we had in the [Barcelona] test were not to do with not being a works team.

“So I don't think there's necessarily a disadvantage. We may little bit behind in what you said, that they've had years to kind of really integrate these rules to their car, but we've been in that process for a long time as well.”

Mercedes is also supplying power units to Williams and Alpine this season, and enjoyed a successful shakedown in Barcelona, where it was the only manufacturer to tally over 1,000 laps.

However, Piastri acknowledged that the Mercedes works team was the most impressive squad at the event as it seemingly ran into no major issues.

“It’s more going to be about who was able to capitalise in the last 12 months on the aero testing and just getting things organised,” Piastri added.

“That’s what was very impressive about Mercedes in particular, how they hit the ground running and were able to do 150-plus laps every day, which is probably the most impressive thing so far.