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McLaren’s star-studded driver line-up of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris didn’t have the most promising week of testing in Bahrain, but it appears as if the Australian struggled a lot more than his title-winning counterpart upon entry into the braking zones, as well as on the exit.
Following the heartbreak of missing out on the 2025 F1 title to his teammate, Oscar Piastri currently has his sights set on a redemption story in the upcoming season.
Entering his fourth term in Formula 1, he has a vast amount of experience in every facet of competing in the category, including being a backmarker, as well as fighting for Grand Prix victories.
Piastri has made some crucial changes to his personal backroom staff, with Mark Webber taking more of a back seat in the Australian’s daily ongoings as he looks to prioritise ‘harmony’ within his camp.
However, he still needs to make sure he is racking up the results out on the race track, and it seems as if he has his work cut out for him when compared to Lando Norris.
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Oscar Piastri was seen having a ‘tougher time’ with the McLaren MCL40 at F1’s Bahrain test
According to a report by The Race, the McLaren duo of Norris and Piastri had their own respective woes with the new generation of F1 car, with the Australian seeming to have more of a ‘tougher time’ than his counterpart.
The new MCL40 would reportedly move a lot more under braking with Piastri at the wheel, with front wheel-based lock-ups occurring at the infamous turn ten being a regular occurrence, as well as the rear tyres stepping out at a higher speed.
Consistency seemed to be the biggest issue for the nine-time Grand Prix winner. Having to react to what the car is telling him, Piastri would sometimes be seen taking wider than usual racing lines, and then also be seen battling oversteer due to it responding more than anticipated.
Piastri has been in the spotlight since his title defeat to Norris last season, with many curious about the form with which the 24-year-old will return to the race track.
As well as the obvious adaptation period that he will have to go through to make the most out of the new regulations, Piastri has also identified two specific circuits that he needs to improve at: Mexico City and Austin.
Both races appeared during the Australian’s worst run of form last season, and his results there ended up being a key factor in the reason why he ended up losing out to Norris in the title race.
The first pecking order predictions are IN!
What jumps out?
Links of a McLaren exit for Oscar Piastri haven’t subsided as the F1 grid readies for another year of racing
Due to the emergence of team orders within the Woking-based outfit during such a divisive intra-team title fight last season, rumours of Piastri looking for greener pastures were rife as Norris sailed to a maiden world championship.
Despite the long winter break, those links haven’t subsided following the diminishing fallout from the title decider in Abu Dhabi.
Piastri has been identified as the ‘perfect candidate’ to replace Fernando Alonso at Aston Martin if the 44-year-old Spaniard opts to call it quits on his long-standing career in Formula 1.
Alonso has previously hinted at 2026 being his final term in the sport, but as ever with the 32-time Grand Prix winner, no one really knows until he is actually off the grid.
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