Piastri teases unique details to new McLaren F1 car

Oscar Piastri has hinted there will be some “interesting” details visible on the McLaren MCL39 challenger.

The new car will hit the track in Bahrain on Wednesday for the first day of pre-season testing.

McLaren became the first team to unveil its new car for the season ahead - however as development is a continuing cycle in F1, it is likely the launch spec car differs from the one driven in Bahrain.

Piastri has suggested there are items on the car that could get the F1 paddock talking once testing gets underway.

“There are some interesting things on the car which I’m sure everyone will see tomorrow,” Piastri told media including RacingNews365.

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella previously confirmed the team took an “aggressive” approach when constructing its new car.

The Woking-based squad is being tipped as a key contender in the F1 title fight this year - however Piastri highlighted the importance of balancing the development of the 2025 and 2026 cars with fresh technical rules coming into play next season. 

“It’s obviously an interesting time for F1, going into the new [2026] regulations,” he said.

“It will be interesting to see how all of the teams, including us, balance trying to prioritise this year and next year.

“It’s going to be a really tight season. Hopefully the car is a good step forward from last year.

“We’ll see tomorrow, we’ll have to wait until Melbourne to really know where we stand.

“We're confident that the way we've been working the last few months has been in the right direction.”