Oscar Piastri claims McLaren have always had an edge over Ferrari in area the Scuderia have excelled

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Oscar Piastri is adamant that McLaren have been a step ahead of F1 rivals Ferrari in an area in which the Scuderia have become renowned for during the 2026 campaign.

Since the very first day of pre-season testing ahead of the current Formula 1 campaign, it was apparent that Ferrari had a trick up their sleeve to counter the race start issue that the majority of the grid face due to the new engine formula.

It was revealed that engineers in Maranello had developed a smaller turbo element inside Ferrari’s new power unit, which allowed their drivers to spool the turbo up faster and make a rocket-like start off the line.

The ingenuity of the Scuderia’s finest was on display at the season-opener, as well as the ensuing races. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton shot off the line and into the frontrunning positions in Melbourne, leaving Mercedes’ George Russell and Kimi Antonelli in the dust.

The Prancing Horse became renowned for their fast starts during the opening rounds of the season, but McLaren’s Oscar Piastri has now revealed that he is under the impression that they haven’t been the class-leader in the area.

• READ MORE: George Russell takes Canada Sprint pole ahead of Kimi Antonelli and Lando Norris

Oscar Piastri claims McLaren’s starts have ‘been better’ than Ferrari’s in 2026

During his media duties following the conclusion of Sprint qualifying at the Canadian Grand Prix, Piastri was asked if he was looking ahead to the Mercedes in front for Saturday’s shorter format race, or if he was more worried about the Ferrari duo behind him.

Of course, the topic of Hamilton and Leclerc’s red-hot starts came up, to which he immediately rebuked. “I mean, our starts have been better than the Ferraris all year,” the Australian claimed via Sky Sports F1.

“So we’re confident in ours. I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before Mercedes get theirs competitive as well. But until that time comes, we’ll try our best to take advantage of it.”

Interestingly, Mercedes have been one of the biggest strugglers at the opening phase of the race, despite being the official engine supplier of McLaren’s power units.

The Silver Arrows brought a sizable upgrade package to this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix, with one aspect of development being focused on the software that aids their drivers while the five lights are counting down.

• READ MORE: Zak Brown hints winning a title with Oscar Piastri is his last objective at McLaren

Oscar Piastri also shared concerns over Mercedes’ continual fine form

Piastri will line up alongside his McLaren counterpart, Lando Norris, on Saturday’s Sprint grid, ending the shootout in P4. His final lap time was less than two hundredths of a second slower than the reigning world champion’s.

Still, Mercedes were some three tenths ahead of both of the Woking-based outfit’s drivers, indicating that Brackley’s work over the last six weeks has paid off in dividends.

In terms of the overall balance of his MCL40, Piastri told Sky, “I mean, it was feeling pretty good. I think it was a bit of a messy day for everybody, but the Mercedes still looks very strong.

“That’s probably the biggest takeaway from today, unfortunately. But we’ll see what we can do, see how we can optimise things a bit better and try our best again tomorrow.”