Oscar Piastri: 'Back to Where I Wanted to Be' as McLaren Struggles Ease

Oscar Piastri has found a ray of light in the middle of a season that has been quite a challenge. The Australian McLaren driver has admitted that the start of the year was complicated, with a retirement in his home race in Australia and another in China, but assures that the last races have marked a turning point in his adaptation to the MCL40: "Certainly, that driver was difficult to find for a while but I feel that the last triple header was definitely closer to where I wanted to be, I am not yet at the level I want or aspire to have, but I am back in the range where I should be" Piastri declared in the preview of the United States Grand Prix.

The Australian acknowledged that the season has not been simple: "It has been no secret that this year has been a challenge in terms of grip with this year's car but I feel that in the last weeks it has started to fit a little more. It is still very challenging but we are finding the way" he explained. Piastri, who lost the 2025 championship by only 13 points against his teammate Lando Norris, has had to deal with a car that does not adapt to his natural driving style: "We have tried several things, I think what we are trying, what has been challenging this year, cannot be fixed quickly, even trying to solve it completely is not an easy task" he added.

The McLaren driver highlighted the work done to adapt to the car: "There has been a lot of hard work in terms of how I adapt to the car because the things that often worked so well for me at some moments last year are the ones that are harming me on many weekends this year. When you cannot trust the things you normally want to trust, it is always challenging, both in terms of real adaptation and, when you are used to something working for you for a long time, trying to move away from that is also almost a mental challenge" he reflected.

Despite the difficulties Piastri feels that he is on the right path: "I feel that we are progressing and things are starting to feel a little more comfortable but there is still room for improvement. I am improving this year and also identifying what I need more or less to go faster with the car, we are getting there but this is not the level I want to try to reach. I want to reach a much higher level but it is a clear sign of progress, which is what I am looking for" he stated.

Ahead of the United States Grand Prix in Austin, Piastri showed himself cautious about the MCL40's possibilities: "It's hard to say, I think in general the high-speed corners are where we have been strongest this year and the low-speed ones are where we have struggled. Here you have a combination of both, so it will challenge everything. We have some new pieces on the car that we hope will help us a little, we know we are missing a little performance compared to the teams around us but we hope at least to be able to exploit some strengths this weekend" Piastri concluded.

McLaren and its Australian driver seek in Austin a result that confirms their progress and allows them to continue fighting for the honor positions in the championship.