McLaren’s Oscar Piastri believes the standings at this weekend’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix will not entirely determine who ultimately succeeds in the first season of F1’s new rules era.
McLaren manager Andrea Stella has already said the bookmakers’ favorites for the world championship, Mercedes and Ferrari, are “a step ahead” of the team and Red Bull after pre-season testing in Bahrain.
McLaren are two-time constructors’ champions, and Piastri’s teammate Lando Norris is the current drivers’ champion, having won last year’s season opener in Melbourne.
Speaking on Sky Sports F1 on the eve of his home race at Albert Park, Australian Piastri said:
“We’ll know for sure soon, but I don’t think we’re yet in the position we were in 12 months ago, when we felt we were at our strongest.
“I don’t think this season will be won based on who is the fastest or the best in the first race.
“There’s going to be a lot of development and a lot of learning, especially for us drivers. Whoever can get through it the quickest over a very long season will be the one to come out on top in the long run.”
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And even if McLaren start behind their rivals this weekend, Piastri is backing them to quickly catch up.
“I think every time the regulations are reset, there’s a couple of paths that you can take. I think we’ve probably seen some teams go down different paths,” Piastri said.
“So it’s going to be interesting to see who ends up being the best. If there’s one thing I know, it’s how talented our team is, especially our engineering team.”
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“We’ve proven over the last couple of years how quickly we can get things going and how quickly we can turn things around.
“So I think we can get there no matter what rules are imposed.”
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Melbourne ‘definitely going to get more complicated’ with new cars
The Australian weekend will mark the competitive debut of the sport’s all-new 2026 cars and engines, featuring an almost 50-50 split between combustion engines and electric power.
The tripling of electrical energy in 2025 will create different demands on how drivers collect and deploy electrical energy during laps, and those requirements are expected to vary from track to track during the season.
Albert Park, for example, features fewer heavy braking zones than Bahrain, and Piastri admitted: “I think Melbourne will be a pretty unique challenge.”
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“With these cars, it will be more difficult at different circuits, especially in terms of how to manage things like power units and battery charging.
“So we’ll see how it goes in Melbourne, but it’s definitely going to be complicated either way.”
Sky Sports F1 Australian GP Schedule
Thursday, March 5th
3am: Driver press conference
6am: Paddock uncut
9:45pm: F3 practice
10:55pm: F2 practice
Friday, March 6th
1am: Australian GP Practice 1 (Session starts at 1:30am)*
2:55am: F3 Qualifying*
3:30am: Team boss press conference
3:50am: F2 Qualifying*
4:35am: Australian GP Practice 2 (session starts at 5am)*
6:15am: F1 Show*
Saturday, March 7th
0.10am: F3 sprint*
1:10am: Australian GP Practice 3 (session starts at 1:30am)*
3:05am: F2 Sprint*
4:10am: Australian GP qualifying build-up*
5am: Australian Grand Prix Qualifying*
7am: Ted’s Qualification Notebook*
9:45pm: F3 Feature Race*
Sunday, March 8th
12:20am: F2 Feature Race*
2:30am: Preparation for Australian Grand Prix: Grand Prix Sunday*
4am: Australian Grand Prix*
6am: Australian Grand Prix reaction: Checkered flag*
7am: Ted’s Notes*
7.55am: Australian GP race replay*
10am: Australian GP Highlights (also on Sky One)*
*Also held at Sky Sports Main Event
Watch every race of the 2026 F1 season live on Sky Sports, including the Australian Grand Prix from March 6-8. Stream Sky Sports now – cancel anytime with no contract
