Piastri insists McLaren still ‘a step behind’ Mercedes and Ferrari

The Melbourne sun might be shining on Oscar Piastri, but the hometown hero isn't ready to bask in the glow just yet.

Despite setting the benchmark lap Friday’s afternoon practice at Albert Park, Piastri believes McLaren still has ground to make up against rivals Mercedes and Ferrari.

The Aussie’s blistering lap in FP2 put him two tenths clear of Kimi Antonelli, while George Russell lurked close behind – but the local hero suspects the true competitive picture may be more complicated than the timing screens suggest.

A Chaotic Start to the New Era

For Piastri, the headline lap masked a turbulent start to the weekend.

The first practice session was anything but smooth for McLaren, with reliability gremlins striking both cars before the team recovered in the afternoon.

“FP1 was tricky, by far the trickiest and most complicated session I’ve ever had,” Piastri admitted. “I think FP2 was a bit more back to, let’s say, a new normal.

“Everything ran a bit smoother. We were able to find a bit more consistency and have things operate a bit more as we expected them to.”

That stability helped unlock the pace hidden in the new McLaren package — but Piastri remains cautious about reading too much into a single headline lap.

The challenge in Formula 1’s radically new 2026 technical landscape, he believes, isn’t just speed — it’s getting the car to behave exactly as expected.

“Tough to know,” he said when asked if Friday revealed the true pecking order.

“I think especially at the moment, if you can have the car operate roughly as you expect it to, then you find a huge amount of lap time. I think that’s probably a big thing at the moment.”

Still Chasing Mercedes and Ferrari

Even with the fastest time in the books, Piastri suspects McLaren may still be chasing the sport’s heavyweights once everything settles.

“I think we’ve been there or thereabouts with our pace but I’m not sure what our long run pace looked like. So we’ll have to have a look at that, but I don’t think we ever thought we were a long way behind Mercedes and Ferrari,” he said.

“For me, I always felt that we were only a little step behind and I’m still optimistic that if we get everything into a more optimal place, maybe we don’t have the outright performance if everyone is at 100 percent, but I think the biggest thing is how close can you get to 100 percent at the moment.”

That last point may prove crucial in the early races of the new regulations, where teams are still wrestling with the delicate balance between combustion and electric power.

Norris to Fight Back After Tough Friday

While Piastri secured the upbeat headlines, the other side of the McLaren garage told a very different story.

Reigning world champion Lando Norris endured a frustrating start to the weekend, managing only seven laps in the opening session before finishing seventh in FP2 – a full second slower than his team-mate.

Still, Norris struck a measured tone about McLaren’s prospects heading into qualifying.

“We’re in a reasonable position in regard to getting the car dialled in, but overnight we’ll review where we can keep making steps forward, focusing across all aspects of car setup, tyres and power unit management and optimisation,” he said.

• Australian Grand Prix Free Practice 2 - Results

“With limited practice time before qualifying, everyone is still refining their approach, and we saw improvements from FP1 to FP2 across the board.

"Going into qualifying tomorrow, we hope to be in the fight - precision matters more than ever and it will be important to ensure we execute the preparation perfectly with the expected traffic.”

For now, McLaren may sit at the top of the timesheets – but if Piastri’s instincts are correct, the real battle in Melbourne may only just be warming up.

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