Oscar Piastri addresses 'pessimistic' McLaren F1 disadvantage

Oscar Piastri has acknowledged McLaren's pace at the Australian Grand Prix may have presented a "pessimistic" picture of its prospects for the season.

However, the 24-year-old is confident that his squad can bridge the gap to the front-runners going forward.

Piastri failed to take part in the race after spectacularly crashing on his way to the grid, while team-mate Lando Norris finished the grand prix in fifth place.

McLaren has failed to enter the new season as a clear front-runner, having enjoyed a successful campaign in 2025 en route to double championship success.

The new technical regulations have generated a pecking order reshuffle, with McLaren moving down the order.

When asked if it was shocking to see Norris cross the line 50 seconds behind the lead, Piastri told media including RacingNews365: "Yes and no.

"The race was chaos for the first 10 laps and a very different kind of racing to what we've ever had in F1.

"[It was] very different from your kind of traditional way of racing. Once everyone settled down, it looked more similar to what we've seen previously.

"The gap to Mercedes, we still had a lot of things we wanted to try and work out in the race, not optimising things as much as we could have, or probably should have.

"It may paint a slightly pessimistic picture but we're under no illusion that Mercedes are incredibly strong and we've got time to find."

Piastri has noted that extracting potential from the power unit is the biggest factor when it comes to unlocking pace.

As the season progresses, the nine-time grand prix winner is confident McLaren can eat into the deficit.

"Hopefully, we can get closer," he said. "I don't think we'll be in the fight to beat them over a race distance.

"But I think we can get a lot closer than what we did in Melbourne."