Oscar Piastri ‘wasn’t a fan’ of one modification McLaren made to his car at the Brazilian GP

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McLaren driver Oscar Piastri has been struggling in recent races, and might have been hampered by a change made to his car during the Brazilian Grand Prix weekend.

The Sao Paulo Grand Prix saw Lando Norris increase his lead over Oscar Piastri in the championship to 24 points.

With three races to go, Piastri needs his McLaren teammate to seriously falter if he’s going to win the drivers’ championship after sitting at the top of the standings for most of the campaign.

Norris topped every session in Brazil, piling the pressure on Piastri and meaning the upcoming race in Las Vegas could end the championship as a contest.

McLaren admitted they didn’t perfect Piastri’s strategy during the race, but after his crash in the Sprint event and the 10-second penalty he was handed for colliding with Andrea Kimi Antonelli, he was always in a difficult spot.

The Interlagos circuit was resurfaced in time for the F1 circus to roll around, which presented a new challenge for the teams.

Technicians even took a concrete floor saw to the apex of several corners after Piastri’s crash, as Norris running wide on the apex brought a puddle of water to the surface that ended the Australian’s race.

Journalist Jon Noble has now detailed a change McLaren were forced to make to Piastri’s car after Saturday that made him even less comfortable in the MCL39.

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Noble was speaking about Piastri’s weekend on The Race F1 Podcast and said: “He’s quite open and honest that he shouldn’t have been on that kerb, whatever the circumstance of Lando sucking that water up from the little pools that gathered to dampen the kerb.

“Piastri got on it, went off into the walls, that was the Sprint Race done. But one of the lessons McLaren took out of the Sprint was that the track’s quite bumpy, plus interestingly, there were a lot of grooves cut into the track this weekend that were drainage, which were quite deep.

“So, there were these ridges and these little trenches at turn two, I think, turn 11 and 12, in grip-limited areas, and this was having an effect on some of the cars, not all of them. As the cars were rolling and sliding over these ridges, the skids were touching the ground; they’re a bit imbalanced, which was leading to greater tyre degradation and for some teams, it was compromising the skids and the plank too much, and they couldn’t run the car as low.

“McLaren had to lift his car into qualifying and for the race, and it took it in a direction which meant less downforce, less grip, and Oscar admitted in the pen that he wasn’t a fan of this change because it moved him yet another step onwards from where it was.

“So, these grooves looked innocuous from the outside, but they just had this subtle little impact and increased the tyre deg on a weekend where the wind had been quite gusty and unpredictable. The rain had made the track very green and hadn’t rubbed in, so it was a culmination of a lot of circumstances that just didn’t work for Oscar.”

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Oscar Piastri’s issues in low grip conditions could cost him the 2025 F1 championship

Piastri’s performance levels in recent months have dipped slightly, while Norris has found another level ever since his retirement at the Dutch Grand Prix.

Andrea Stella admitted Piastri’s issues in low grip conditions were a ‘red flag’, and a newly laid track surface in Sao Paulo wouldn’t have helped him.

Lewis Hamilton is another driver who prefers his car to be as low to the ground as possible, which might explain his struggles at Interlagos.

Norris described the upcoming race in Las Vegas, via Sky Sports, as ‘super low grip’ after crashing out during the race.

That might concern Piastri even further, but he’ll hope that the more consistent conditions in Las Vegas, and having three practice sessions rather than one, can help him get up to speed before the most important qualifying session of his career.