Oscar Piastri jokes that Ferrari will ‘probably’ trip over themselves with Formula 1 engine

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Oscar Piastri aimed a playful dig at McLaren’s Formula 1 rivals Ferrari in an interview recorded before the 2026 season.

McLaren entered the year as the back-to-back constructors’ champions, while Ferrari haven’t won either championship since 2008. 435 points separated the two teams last season.

Up to this point, though, Ferrari have been the nearest challengers to the dominant Mercedes team, though Piastri’s impressive Japan podium suggests McLaren are making a breakthrough.

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Oscar Piastri on the battle between Mercedes and Ferrari

In an appearance for sponsors Quad Lock, Piastri was asked about Mercedes’ rumoured engine advantage. McLaren, of course, stood to benefit.

The Australian expressed his faith in Mercedes, who marched out to a lasting lead following the 2014 move to V6 hybrids. Rival manufacturers weren’t projecting the same confidence.

Mercedes won eight consecutive constructors’ titles between 2014 and 2021 until Max Verstappen and Red Bull finally dethroned them.

“Mercedes got it right when it came to the engines that got introduced in 2014,” said Piastri. “They got that right initially and to be honest, it took everyone a good six or seven years to actually catch up to that.

• READ MORE: Key voices at Mercedes want to ‘get rid’ of world champions McLaren as an engine customer

“Hopefully they can pull that same masterstroke again and they keep us a customer team and don’t get rid of us! We’ve got a lot of confidence, Mercedes seem confident.

“We don’t really know what the other engine manufacturers are like, but I definitely think Mercedes have got the most confidence out of everyone that I’ve heard of. Hopefully that’s good for us.”

When it was put to him that ‘Ferrari will trip over themselves’ at some point, he replied: “Probably!”

The Scuderia’s aforementioned title drought, now approaching 20 years, has been a tale of false dawns and costly missteps. The latest may be Ferrari’s rear-end design, which could limit their development potential.

What Oscar Piastri didn’t realise about Mercedes’ engine advantage

There were signs of tension between McLaren and Mercedes earlier in the season, with team principal Andrea Stella implying that the Silver Arrows weren’t giving them all the information they needed.

With time, McLaren will be able to study Mercedes’ techniques for optimising the all-important battery and, theoretically, achieve a similar level of performance.

But it’s difficult to see them reaching parity in time to retain the title. Indeed, only once under the current points system has a team overcome a deficit greater than the 89 points currently separating McLaren and Mercedes.

That was McLaren themselves in 2024 when they were battling Red Bull.