McLaren shut down Oscar Piastri theory after latest defeat to Lando Norris at Hungarian Grand Prix

Follow us on Google Discover

Ted Kravitz has strived to put a theory about Oscar Piastri “to bed” after speaking with McLaren, following his latest defeat to Lando Norris at the 2026 Hungarian Grand Prix.

Piastri has endured a run of woe in recent rounds that has allowed Norris to take hold of the head-to-head battle at McLaren this season. After taking pole position for the Hungarian GP this Saturday, Norris now leads Piastri 7-4 in qualifying and 4-0 in Sprint Qualifying this year.

Norris has not been headed by Piastri during a Grand Prix qualifying session since round six in Monaco, with the defending champion leading McLaren’s efforts in each of the following five rounds. Norris has even beaten Piastri during seven of the last eight qualifying sessions.

Lewis Hamilton has a three-place grid penalty for the Hungarian GP 🚨 What position can he still achieve on Sunday?

Comment

Like or Comment

Have your say Sign-in now for free

McLaren shut down claims Oscar Piastri does not have their Hungarian GP floor upgrade

Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton impeding Piastri during qualifying in Hungary played a part in the McLaren man’s latest defeat to Norris on Saturday. But Piastri did not have Norris’ pace all weekend, at a round where McLaren have debuted a new floor upgrade for the MCL40.

READ MORE: How to watch the 2026 F1 Hungarian Grand Prix, plus the weather forecast

Claims have emerged suggesting that McLaren have not given Piastri their upgraded floor at the Hungarian GP. But Kravitz has now moved to rubbish those accusations, as McLaren are insisting that Piastri and Norris have the same specifications on their MCL40s this weekend.

Kravitz said on Sky Sports F1 (25/07, 17:12): “They weren’t really there on Friday because of just Ferrari’s dominance of the circuit so far. Then McLaren did their homework, they put all the all the upgrades on.

“Now, I’m told that the specs of both cars are identical, so Oscar has all of the upgrades that Lando has. I do know that there’s some media outlets out there saying that that’s not the case and that Oscar doesn’t have the floor, but that’s not my understanding at all.

“My understanding, I’ve been told by the boss of the communications department here that Oscar has all of the upgrades that Lando has. So, I just want to put that thing to bed.”

Hamilton impeded Piastri at Turn 1 during the latter’s final flying lap of qualifying, which saw the McLaren racer have to abandon his run and settle for only fifth place. The FIA’s stewards have slapped Hamilton with a three-place grid penalty for impeding Piastri, which drops the Ferrari driver to fifth on the grid after missing out on pole position to Norris by only 0.012s.

Hamilton will still start the Hungarian GP from fifth on the grid, too, despite Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli also receiving a three-place grid penalty. The stewards ruled that the Italian failed to slow sufficiently under yellow flags during qualifying at the Hungaroring.

Norris produced a late flurry to Q3 to snatch pole position away from Hamilton, with the 26-year-old edging ahead with a 1:17.207. Piastri only managed to produce a 1:17.684 with his provisional Q3 run owing to being impeded by Hamilton, who set a personal best 1:17.219.

Andrea Stella admits Oscar Piastri is still ‘learning’ how to drive the 2026 F1 cars

Piastri would likely have struggled to challenge Norris for pole even if he had set a final lap during Q3. And McLaren team principal Andrea Stella explained ahead of qualifying for the Hungarian GP that Piastri has often struggled in 2026 as he is still adapting to the demands of the new cars, as the 2026 regulations yielded less downforce than the ground-effect era.

Stella told Sky Sports F1 (14:28): “I think these 2026 cars, in general, you would characterise as low-grip cars. The car slides a lot, and we know that these are conditions in which Lando finds his natural space to use all of the driving input to extract lap time.

“And conversely, we saw Oscar last year performing probably the best driver in very high grip conditions, and having to adapt his natural style when the car slides.

“So for Oscar, there was more work to do this season in terms of adaptation. We are working together with him.

“There’s learning after every event, and honestly, this is a never-ending process. You have to get better constantly if you want to be part of this high-level, super-competitive sport.”

It became clear at the 2025 Mexico City Grand Prix last October that Piastri struggles vastly more than Norris on low-grip tracks. While Norris can adapt his driving style to what his car needs when the rear-end slides, Piastri tends to take a lot longer to adapt to the challenge.