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Oscar Piastri fires early 2026 title warning after late McLaren collapse
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Oscar Piastri fires early 2026 title warning after late McLaren collapse

Oscar Piastri has warned his F1 title rivals that he is now aware of his weaknesses after his late collapse in the 2025 championship fight. After the Dutch GP last August, Piastri held a 34-point lead over team-mate Lando Norris and a 104-point lead over Max Verstappen, but from the Azerbaijan GP onwards, his form collapsed. He crashed out of the Sprints in the United States and Brazil, and recorded three fifth places in a row just as Norris and Verstappen peaked to pass him in the standings, although Piastri did rally in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.  Piastri's mental toughness had been regarded as one of his strengths before the collapse, with the Australian now believing he has a better view of his weaknesses as he seeks to wrest the title from Norris in 2026. "I'm just trying to get a better feel for what the car is like, it is such a big departure from what we've had in the last few years and in my time in F1," Piastri explained. "There are a lot of things to understand, the new engines, but also the philosophy of the caris completely different with less downforce.  "It is about getting used to that and how different things feel and trying to get a good read on that and, as quickly as possible, find a good direction to make the car quicker and feel nicer. "I am excited. I've had a good first three years in F1, but this is my first regulation reset, so it is going to be interesting to see where we come out as a team.  "I feel like last year I really proved to myself the things that I'm capable of, and definitely still the things I need to improve and work on as well. But I feel like I really took a good step forward, and you know, those lessons I can take forward into whatever rules we get."

George Russell shares surprising 'good news' after eye-catching Mercedes test
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George Russell shares surprising 'good news' after eye-catching Mercedes test

George Russell has joked that the new generation of F1 car will "save a few years on the back" after the eradication of porpoising. Throughout the ground-effects era, cars were prone to the aerodynamic phenomenon of bouncing as the underside of the floor stalled before quickly re-attaching, with the oscillation cycle known as porpoising. Multiple drivers initially reported major concerns in 2022, with Lewis Hamilton particularly suffering at the 2022 Azerbaijan GP, with his participation in the next race in Canada briefly in doubt.  The FIA stepped in during the season to make rule changes to reduce porpoising, but by the end of the ground effects era, it had returned, albeit to a lesser extent. For the 2026 generation of car, the conditions for porpoising have been removed with the floor of the car no longer required to as close as possible to the track surface to create downforce, with the 'rake' returning. This is the difference in ride height between the front and rear of the car, with the rear higher, under which Mercedes dominated in the old rules cycle between 2017 and 2021.  Reflecting on the first week of running with the 2026 breed of car, Russell, who completed a field-leading 265 laps of Mercedes' own chart-topping 502, felt the immediate improvement for the drivers.  "It's been a positive test; we had lots of mileage on the car, which was the main focus of the test," Russell reflected. "The car is feeling nice to drive, there are no major issues, and no porpoising, which is pretty good news for all of us. "It will save a few years on the back, so all in all, it was a decent few days. "The car has been working well, but it is not about how well it works; it is about how quickly it goes around the track, and we don't really have an indication of that at the moment. "But we're in a reasonably good place, but I'm sure things are going to change a lot between now and the next Bahrain test, and then I am sure people will be bringing upgrades to the car, so it is still very much early days."