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Bernie Collins “totally” agrees with Naomi Schiff that McLaren driver Oscar Piastri has struggled at the Belgian Grand Prix as he has still not adapted as well as Lando Norris.
Piastri has endured a difficult time throughout the Spa weekend so far, and only managed to qualify in seventh on Saturday. McLaren teammate Norris, on the other hand, has enjoyed a far stronger time at the Belgian GP and qualified in third, but he must serve a grid penalty.
McLaren have given Norris a new battery at Spa after receiving Mercedes’ latest version this weekend. However, it marks Norris’ fourth battery through only the first 10 rounds of the F1 season, so the reigning champion must serve a 10-place grid penalty that drops him to 12th.
Who was your star of qualifying at the Belgian Grand Prix? 🤩
Oscar Piastri is simply struggling to adapt to the 2026 F1 regulations like Lando Norris
Collins and Schiff had already noticed that Piastri was struggling at Spa prior to qualifying, in which Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli scored pole for the Belgian GP. Piastri also had a troubled time in the three practice sessions and seldom showed the same speed as Norris.
READ MORE: How to watch the 2026 Belgian Grand Prix, plus the weather forecast for Spa
Piastri was 0.792 seconds off Norris’ pace for P6 and P2 in FP2 on Friday before also lapping 0.656s slower than the Briton during FP3 on Saturday. Schiff senses that Piastri’s struggles at the Belgian GP are merely a continuation of his troubles adapting to the 2026 regulations.
Schiff said on Sky Sports F1 (18/07, 14:47): “There was a sense of energy around Oscar last year, particularly from the get-go, that he was coming in like a very established force to be reckoned with for Lando, who’d been at the team a lot longer.
“But this year, it feels like a very different Oscar. And I know we’ve talked about it, George [Russell] and Kimi, and we’ve also seen it a little bit with Lewis [Hamilton] and Charles [Leclerc], that some of these drivers just aren’t adapting to these cars as easily as the other.”
F1 introduced its biggest regulatory overhaul in history this year, moving away from ground-effect cars and adopting narrower and shorter machines. Collins “totally” agrees with Schiff that Piastri’s struggles are linked to having to adapt to the new regulations. But she suggests that the Australian may also be struggling to get over failing to win the 2025 F1 drivers’ title.
Collins added: “Yeah, I agree totally with what Naomi said there. It’s not suited Oscar as well [as Norris], these cars.
“He’s maybe a little bit defeated from what happened last year, as well. He didn’t manage to get what looked at times like his championship to lose across the line. So, the dynamic has changed in that garage, for sure.”
If you were Zak Brown, would you sign Max Verstappen or keep Oscar Piastri?
Piastri looked like the champion-elect through 15 of last season’s 24 rounds after he boasted a 34-point advantage atop the standings over Norris and a 104-point lead over Red Bull rival Max Verstappen. Yet Piastri went on to finish 13 points behind Norris and 11 off Verstappen.
Melbourne native Piastri held his big advantages after winning the 2025 Dutch Grand Prix, in which Norris retired for the only mechanical failure by any of the title contenders. But Norris out-scored Piastri in each of the next six rounds, and Verstappen did so across the final nine.
There were also and continue to be reports that Piastri lost faith in McLaren after their team orders at Monza. McLaren told Piastri to give Norris back P2 in the 2025 Italian Grand Prix as he undercut the Briton, who they assured would stay ahead if he let the Australian stop first.
Now, whatever reason or reasons are behind Piastri’s woes in 2026, he has endured a tough time at the Belgian GP compared to Norris. The Briton also now holds a 6-4 lead over Piastri in their 2026 Grand Prix qualifying head-to-head, 4-0 lead in Sprint Qualifying, and 4-0 lead in F1 Sprints. Piastri, however, goes into the Belgian GP tied 4-4 with Norris for race results.
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