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Oscar Piastri refutes Lewis Hamilton’s view that the 2026 F1 cars are “slower” than F2 cars, but he sees why the new regulations could be “pretty tough” for veteran drivers.
Hamilton gave a bleak initial assessment about the 2026 F1 regulations after driving Ferrari’s new car at the Barcelona shakedown and during the first of two pre-season tests in Bahrain. But he did add that the SF-26 feels “quite fun” to drive compared to the prior regulatory era.
The seven-time champion never managed to adapt his driving style to suit the ground-effect regulations used from 2022 to 2025. Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Piastri and Lando Norris also set new all-time track records in Japan, Barcelona and Italy (Monza) during the 2025 F1 season.
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Oscar Piastri feels the 2026 F1 regulations could be ‘tough’ for experienced drivers to adapt to
Piastri acknowledges that the 2026 regulations have produced cars that are slower than the last ground-effect cars, given the reduced downforce. Yet the drop off is far from as extreme as F2 levels, in which Leonardo Fornaroli scored pole in Bahrain in 2025 with a 1:44.008 lap.
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Mercedes gem Antonelli set the fastest time during the first week of testing in Bahrain with a 1:33.669. So, Piastri believes the issue for experienced drivers like Hamilton, who is set to contest his 20th season in F1, is that they have to unlearn so much for the 2026 regulations.
“I think it’s just complex,” Piastri said, via quotes by Auto Action. “There’s a lot of things that we’ve never had to do before, and they are just challenging by nature because some of them are not very instinctive.
“And when you’ve kind of driven a certain way for the last 15 years, it’s pretty tough to undo some of those things – especially when some of them are lifting on straights or stuff like that, that obviously as a driver you never want to be lifting at any point.
“I think even without some of the challenges we’ve got and the things we need to address as a sport, ultimately, they are cars that are slower and have less downforce and probably more power out of the corners. So, they’re always going to feel difficult to drive and tricky.”
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Only 44-year-old Aston Martin ace Fernando Alonso has started more F1 Grands Prix to date than 41-year-old Ferrari driver Hamilton. They are the most experienced drivers in F1 history with 425 and 380 starts to their names ahead of the 2026 season, which features 24 races.
So, 24-year-old McLaren man Piastri – who has 70 starts since his F1 debut in 2023 – can see why it could be a challenge for the likes of Hamilton to adapt to the new regulations. F1 has increased the electrical power share from the prior 20/80 split to almost 50/50 in 2026.
The 2026 regulations, which also featured changes to the aero, chassis and tyre rules, have not gone down too well with all of the grid, however. Drivers like Haas’ 29-year-old Esteban Ocon and 28-year-old Red Bull racer Max Verstappen do not feel the 2026 F1 cars are “fun”.
Hamilton at least finds the new cars “quite fun”, as the 200mm shorter wheelbase, 100mm narrower design and 30kg reduction in minimum weight make them “easier” to save when they get out of shape. And Ferrari’s rear-end instability in Bahrain could be an issue for him.
“It’s a lot less downforce,” Hamilton said, via quotes by RacingNews365. “The car is shorter, it’s lighter, and it’s actually easier to catch. It’s quite fun, it’s like rallying a lot. Yeah, I think we’re slower than GP2 right now, right? I mean, it does feel like that.”
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