I wouldn’t change how I responded

Exactly a year ago, Oscar Piastri arrived at Monza as the title favourite, leading team-mate Lando Norris by 34 points after the latter’s retirement at Zandvoort – but it was from that weekend onwards that things started to go wrong. Piastri eventually lost the title, ending the season third behind not only Norris, but also Max Verstappen.

While several poor performances and mistakes cost him a significant number of points, some decisions from McLaren also potentially hurt the Australian’s title bid. One of the most discussed came at Monza, when Piastri was asked to let Norris through on track after a slow pitstop for the Briton.

The duo had been battling for second in that race, with Norris ahead for most of the distance – but a problem during his pitstop delayed him and effectively cost him the position to Piastri. The subsequent order, which the Australian obeyed, sparked a debate in the paddock over whether the team was giving preferential treatment to Norris.

With team principal Andrea Stella explaining at the time how the decision was in line with McLaren’s internal “papaya rules”, some were still left feeling Piastri should not have obeyed the order.

Lando Norris, McLaren, Oscar Piastri, McLaren

Photo by: Andy Hone/ LAT Images via Getty Images

Ahead of this year’s race, at the post-qualifying press conference, Piastri was asked to look back at the incident and assess whether he would change anything, knowing how the season unfolded afterwards.

The Australian responded that he had no regrets.

“No, I mean, I don’t think it was, you know, one thing that led to the back end of last year being difficult,” he said. “It was a number of different things week to week and, yeah, you know, you always think about different decisions you could have taken.

“But I think for me, how I responded, how I handled last year, I wouldn’t change it. So, yeah, nothing to change.”

Piastri is still yet to win another F1 race since then. Having missed out on the title last year, he has also clearly lacked pace compared to Norris this season.

It is believed that many of the issues the Australian is experiencing now are related to his driving style, with Stella saying Piastri needs to deploy some techniques that don’t come naturally to him, as he has also struggled at tracks with low-grip conditions. With the 2026 cars producing less downforce, the same pattern appears to have continued.

Piastri himself says it is not that simple – but believes he is starting to unlock more pace, highlighting the progress he made in qualifying at Zandvoort two weeks ago.

“I mean, I think it’s not kind of one problem that keeps reoccurring,” he said ahead of the Monza weekend. “It’s, you know, kind of like we’re always chasing something a little bit different. And yeah, we need to try and find it a bit quicker, both myself and the team around me.

Oscar Piastri, McLaren

Photo by: Manuel Eletto / Getty Images

“But I think the positive from Zandvoort was that the qualifying at least looked significantly better and back to the level it should be at. And, you know, the process we’re going through is just trying to extend that to the races.

“Obviously, the car’s quite different in a race compared to over a single lap, but I feel like we’ve got some pretty good answers of why Zandvoort particularly was challenging. So, yes, I think we’re making good progress with that. We just need time and some experimentation to find, you know, to find some things that are going to make us quicker. But I’m confident that we’re finding the right answers and finding a way forward.”

Ahead of the Monza race, Piastri sits seventh in the championship on 104 points, 55 behind team-mate Norris, who is fourth on 159.

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– The Motorsport.com Team