Oscar Piastri admits to 'mental challenge' in McLaren F1 form blip

Oscar Piastri has stated he has had to overcome the “mental challenge” that came with his on-track struggles at McLaren this year.

Having narrowly missed out on a maiden F1 title in 2025, Piastri entered the new campaign with fresh hope as the sport shifted to a new set of technical regulations.

However, Piastri has stumbled at points throughout the year and has often been outpaced by team-mate Lando Norris.

The Australian is 63 points down on Norris, who managed to score two race wins in the mid-point of the season.

Piastri has been more content with his form of late, but admitted he still has a way to go to get completely comfortable.

“It certainly was hard to find for a while, but I feel like the last triple header was definitely more back to where I wanted to be,” Piastri told media including RacingNews365.

“Definitely not at the level I want to aspire to be at, but back in the ballpark that I should be in. 

“It's been no secret that this year has been challenging in terms of getting a grip on this year's car. 

“I feel like over the last few weeks, it's started to click a little bit more. It's still very challenging, but we're finding a way.

“I'm slowly getting there, and both improving this year and also identifying what I need more of or less of to go quicker from the car. 

“But this is not the level I want to be trying to get to. I want to be getting to a much higher level than where I'm at, but it's a clear sign of progress, which is what I'm after.”

The 2026 rule change marked a significant shift from the ground-effect challengers of the previous era, with the new cars forcing many drivers into a different driving style.

Piastri admitted he struggled to adapt to that change, which he felt plagued him for much of the season.

When asked what he has changed in the car of late, Piastri replied: “Not a lot. We've tried various things. What we're dealing with, what's been challenging this year, you can't quickly fix.

“Even trying to fix it overall is not an easy thing at all, but we've been trying some things. 

“There's been a lot of hard work in terms of how I adapt myself to the car, because the things that were often working so well for me at points last year are the things that are my downfall in a lot of weekends this year. 

“When you can't rely on the things that you normally want to rely on, it is always challenging, both in terms of actually adapting, but also when you've been used to something working for you for a long time, trying to go away from that, there's a mental challenge to that as well. 

“We're making progress and things are starting to feel a little bit more comfortable, but there's still room to go.”