Helmut Marko suggests McLaren need to let Oscar Piastri ‘decide more’ with their 2026 car

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Helmut Marko has suggested that McLaren need to let their drivers have more authority with the MCL40 after watching them at the Australian Grand Prix.

The defending champions had a difficult opening weekend of the 2026 season. Oscar Piastri crashed on the way to the grid after he gained ‘100 kilowatts’ of extra energy from the battery, taking him out of his home race before it had started.

How do you expect Oscar Piastri to respond to his Australian GP crash at the Chinese GP?

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Reigning world champion Lando Norris could only manage fifth in the Australian Grand Prix as he lacked the pace of Mercedes and Ferrari. At present, McLaren do not have the package to challenge at the front under the new ruleset.

McLaren struggled with tyre graining in Melbourne, which put them considerably behind power unit supplier Mercedes. Norris was more than 50 seconds behind race winner George Russell at the chequered flag.

Helmut Marko hopes McLaren can make their drivers ‘decide more’ with the MCL40

McLaren also had aerodynamic ‘deficiency’ in Australia. The Woking outfit are no longer the fastest team on the grid, and they have got some development to do with the MCL40 if they are to return to the top.

Marko’s solution is to give Piastri and Norris more freedom with the car. Speaking via sport.de, he says that McLaren’s issue is a matter of “software and programming.”

Which F1 team had the most surprising race pace data at the Australian Grand Prix?

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He then suggests: “Perhaps in a few races they can manage to make it so that the driver decides more again, and not an engineer or energy saving.” Marko hopes that McLaren can be competitive in 2026.

But at present, they are finding difficulties with the Mercedes power unit, and their overall package currently puts them behind the Brackley outfit and Ferrari.

READ MORE: McLaren driver Oscar Piastri’s life outside F1 from height to girlfriend

Helmut Marko claims Ferrari wouldn’t have fought Mercedes in Australia without ‘superb start’

It is clear that Mercedes are the team to beat in 2026. Ferrari put up a fight in the opening stages in Australia, but after the pit stops, which the Maranello outfit delayed under the VSCs, Russell controlled the race from there.

Leclerc claims Mercedes’ pace was not as strong as he had expected. He took the lead with a great launch off the line from P4 on the grid.

Ferrari’s starts certainly make them a strong contender, but Marko is not convinced that the team can battle Mercedes without that launch off the grid.

He added: “Without the superb start the Ferraris made, this situation would never have arisen. Thanks to their small turbocharger, we can hope that this starting performance will be there in the next races as well.”