Oscar Piastri has just demonstrated why he isn’t ready to be Formula 1 world champion yet

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McLaren driver Oscar Piastri will want to put how the 2025 Formula 1 season ended behind him as quickly as possible.

After establishing a 34-point lead over Lando Norris by winning the Dutch Grand Prix, Oscar Piastri went into the season finale knowing his chances of becoming world champion were all but over.

So much so that McLaren expected Piastri to help Norris win the title, should Max Verstappen’s resurgence put him in pole position to win a fifth consecutive championship.

How quickly will Oscar Piastri adapt to Formula 1’s new regulations in 2026?

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Piastri had a faltering end to the 2025 campaign, with mistakes in Austin and Sao Paulo the headlines in a run of races where he failed to finish on the podium.

McLaren are delighted with both of their drivers and will hope that both Norris and Piastri are once again in contention for the championship this year.

However, an answer he’s given in a recent interview suggests he’s not learned enough from how last season ended to be in contention again in 2026.

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Oscar Piastri ‘still figuring out’ what went wrong during the 2025 Formula 1 season

In an interview with 7News, Piastri was asked if he had figured out what he needed to do to become Formula 1 world champion this season.

The 24-year-old reacted and said: “Still figuring out! I think, in terms of the lessons from last year, yes, I think they’re not necessarily things that are always in the car, so to speak, or they’re not necessarily attached to driving specifically.

“They’re just a bit broader in terms of the topics. But in terms of the driving, figuring out the tools I need to drive as fast as I can, that’s what testing is so critical for this year.

“Learning again from previous years, it was kind of all the car year to year needed the same driving style, needed the same things more or less, with some subtle tweaks.

“Whereas this year, we’re getting to know what the car likes, what it doesn’t like, what the power unit likes, what it doesn’t like. So there’s much more kind of experimentation and exploration on that side of things.

“So yeah, that’s kind of developing the tools, but I think some of the ones are more off track and just how I approach the weekends, how I approach the season. There are definitely some lessons from last year that I can take into 2026.”

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How can McLaren help Oscar Piastri become Formula 1 world champion?

The fact that Piastri is still figuring out what exactly went wrong last year is a worrying sign, but might not tell the full story.

Piastri is one of the most understated drivers on the grid, and while he’s unlikely to ever jump up and down in celebration on the podium, he clearly believes in his natural talent.

In the past, Piastri has made great strides in qualifying, and his next target has to be to conquer his issues on low-grip surfaces.

However, he also recognises that this season is going to be very different to last year because of the changing regulations.

The problems he faced towards the end of 2025 may not occur as often this season because the cars are going to be so different to drive.

Unfortunately, if he hasn’t identified exactly what he should have been working on over the winter break to avoid a repeat of the heartbreak of last season, then it’s hard to see him making enough progress to beat Norris, let alone the other leading drivers on the grid.