news-engine

‘Really hurt him’: McLaren warning as Oscar Piastri cops tough reality check Oscar Piastri’s 2026 campaign is on the brink of a full-blown crisis, with McLaren under mounting pressure to anoint Lando Norris as the team’s clear No.1 driver — and speculation growing that a Red Bull lifeline could be the Aussie’s ticket out. Sky Sports F1 commentator David Croft has delivered a brutal verdict that Piastri simply hasn’t had the pace to match his British teammate all season — and that McLaren can no longer afford to sit on the fence. Fox Sports, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every practice, qualifying session and race in the 2026 FIA Formula One World Championship™ LIVE in 4K. New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1. Speaking on the latest episode of The Sky Sports F1 Show, Croft said Piastri had “consistently” lacked the speed to match Norris — not just in Budapest but throughout 2026. “I thought his move at turn 2 (in Hungary) was exactly the sort of move we expect from Oscar Piastri,” Croft said. “You know, he is a fine, fine driver. But in 2026, he finds himself not having the pace of his teammate, and not just in Budapest, but I think consistently, over race weekends, he hasn’t had as much pace as Lando. “You know, McLaren have got to give both drivers as big a chance as they can to do as well as they can, but they can’t ignore the fact that one driver is going to go on and win the race, and the other’s going to come under pressure if they keep him out in front.” Croft said the papaya outfit had no choice but to start playing favourites if it wanted to keep Mercedes and Ferrari at bay in the constructors’ fight. “I think McLaren actually did a decent job with the strategy. I didn’t hear any complaints at all on that one. I didn’t see anything to complain about,” he said. “But Oscar’s got to find a way to match Lando’s pace. “And if he can’t, then I think McLaren, with Mercedes as fragile as they are, and Ferrari’s strategy as fragile as it is, McLaren have got to find every way to maximise every advantage. “And for me, one of the big things coming out of the summer break, can McLaren carry this on? Are they gonna put their eggs in a Lando Norris basket, and is it gonna come up trumps once again?” It is a question McLaren has tried to avoid answering all year. The team’s so-called “papaya rules” — race hard, race clean, don’t touch — were meant to guarantee Piastri and Norris an equal shot at the title. Instead, 2025 became a running sore over favouritism, with Piastri controversially ordered to hand back second place to Norris at Monza and left to fume as Norris escaped censure after clattering into him in Singapore. Piastri went on to lose that title fight by just 13 points — and was hunted down in the standings by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in the process. Now, with Norris the reigning world champion and McLaren still publicly insisting both drivers get equal machinery, Croft’s comments suggest patience inside the team is wearing thin — and that history could be about to repeat itself, only this time with Piastri cast permanently as the support act. Croft still rates Norris as a genuine championship threat this year, despite the early-season struggles. “Constructors championship, I think, is still very much up for grabs,” Croft said. “The drivers championship, I don’t think Lando is that far behind that he can’t make up a deficit.” McLaren currently sits third in the constructors’ championship, 159 points behind leader Mercedes and 87 points behind Ferrari. Piastri, who has not won a race in a year, must put the hurt of last year’s world title fight behind him if he is to rediscover his best form. Speaking to news.com.au courtesy of Betpack, seven-time F1 race winner Juan Pablo Montoya said Piastri must reset mentally to get over the “hurt” of falling just short of last year’s world title, won by Norris. “Losing the championship last year really hurt him mentally,” Montoya said. “It’s a process of getting over it, figuring it out and getting the focus and the energy back on getting the job done. He is bloody good, so I think he will. “It’s such a big thing on the head, the psychology part of it. Losing the championship last year, everyone was talking like it was his, it was in the bag. “When you’re in that position where you look unbeatable and you lose the championship, it’s a hard pill to swallow. “It’s going to take some time to get back where ne needs to be. He has the potential to do amazing things, I truly do. I think Oscar is a bloody good driver, he’s very quick.” There is a school of thought last year was the best shot Piastri will get in his career to win a world title. “He might get another but opportunities like that come that often,” Montoya said. “It’s the reality of the sport. He’s done amazing things. Unless your only motivation is to be world champion, the reality of this sport is to be world champion everything has to go your way. You need to be in the best car. “You need to focus on the day to day, winning races, focus on practice and maximising everything, then the opportunity might come by itself. “You can’t determine the rest of your career because you finished second or third in the world championship. It sucks that your teammate won but that’s why we go racing.” Norris broke through to claim McLaren’s first victory of the season in Hungary, but Piastri’s race was ruined by Carlos Sainz barging into him before engine failure led to a DNF. “When that happens (DNF and Sainz incident), it’s like is it going to rain on top of me next, you start questioning everything,” Montoya said. “He just needs to get on with the job and don’t even think about it.” Montoya believes Piastri needs to experiment with his car to find the set-up that works specifically for him instead of relying on the set-up being used for Norris. “He needs to understand why Lando’s more comfortable that him, what’s missing and what they need to do,” he said. “What is working for Lando isn’t necessarily going to work for Oscar and what Oscar wants out of the car is completely different. “Oscar should go to McLaren and say, ‘Hey, let me experiment, even if we get it completely wrong. Let me go down a couple of rabbit holes’. “They need to get out of the bubble they’re operating in because it’s working for Lando but not working for him. They need to expand and maybe go a couple of weekends where they struggle. Who cares? You’ve still got 12 races left, sacrifice two or three for the other nine, instead of having another 12 average races. “When you’re leaving it weekend to weekend, it's so difficult to go ‘we’re just going to suck this weekend’. You need to figure out what’s missing. “Oscar has a lot of really good people around him. They need to not be afraid of swinging to the fences.” F1’s mid-season break usually coincides with the sport’s silly season and driver movement — but Montoya believes a swap between McLaren and Red Bull for Piastri and Max Verstappen is unlikely. “The question is what kind of a deal does Oscar have because if he has a solid contract they can’t really get rid of him,” he said. “Unless both parties were happy to do something, there’s no reason. I don’t see Red Bull saying ‘we’re happy to take Oscar for Max’. They’re not going to say ‘Max you can go we’re going to have Oscar’. “I’m sorry but Red Bull would kill to keep Max at any contest. I really don’t see it. A lot of the speculation is because Max’s engineer is going to McLaren.” The F1 season resumes at the Dutch Grand Prix on August 23. “McLaren made a huge step (in Hungary). McLaren looks quite strong, they’re probably going to win a few more races,” Montoya said. “It’ll be interesting to see how Oscar does the rest of the season. He looked quite good and competitive in Budapest. “From his background with the junior formulas, I’m surprised he’s struggling with this car with less downforce. I thought this would benefit him. He’s starting to get the hang of it, and he’s started to get better. That’s a huge plus for him.”