Oscar Piastri hints at McLaren disadvantage during F1 break period

Oscar Piastri has conceded McLaren is lacking track time at the start of the new season, which may be a disadvantage as it seeks gains during the April break.

F1 is currently in the middle of a five-week break following the cancellation of two races in the Middle East, offering all teams the chance to ramp up activities at the factories to come back in Miami in a stronger position.

McLaren entered the year as reigning champions but endured a challenging start. Piastri crashed before the race start in Australia, before both he and his team-mate Lando Norris were eliminated with pre-race issues in China.

Both cars managed to start and finish the race in Japan, with Piastri impressing en route to second place.

However, it is lacking mileage compared to its direct rivals - a crucial factor as the teams now pore over the data from the opening rounds.

“We'll see. I think it gives everybody more time to develop, more time to understand things,” Piastri told media including RacingNews365.

“Obviously, we're down on laps and data at the moment, unfortunately, which is a bit of a shame.”

However, Piastri insisted McLaren is still in a strong position to make improvements, insisting it has a good understanding of where he needs to gain.

“But even now, we have some good ideas on how we want to improve going forward, on a lot of topics, where we want to take the car, where we need to improve our work with HPP, and all kinds of other things,” he said.

“I think it's just going to give everybody a bit more time to understand, and hopefully we can come out of that break a bit faster than we are now.”