Oscar Piastri comments on “very different” F1 car for the 2026 season

McLaren star Oscar Piastri has given his take on the 'very different' 2026 F1 car. Next season marks the dawn of a new era in terms of regulations in the pinnacle of motorsport.

From 2026 onwards, Formula 1 challengers will undergo significant changes compared to the current ground-effect era. The cars will be 30 kg lighter to support wheel-to-wheel racing and overtaking.

The power unit will also undergo a major redesign, in terms of increased battery power and a 50-50 split between the internal combustion engine and electrical power. Additionally, the cars will run on 100 percent sustainable fuels.

Oscar Piastri has been competing in Formula 1 since 2023 and has driven cars under the ongoing ground-effect era. He drove the 2026 car in the simulator for the first time, and in line with this, he came up with an in-depth take, via Motorsportweek:

"I drove it quite recently. I think there’s still a lot of things to find out before we go racing next year. I think there’s still a lot of development ongoing, so I don’t want to comment too much on it. But it will certainly be very different from what we have now and what most of us have probably ever driven. But some things will be similar still."

In the 2025 F1 season, Oscar Piastri is in a fight for the drivers' world championship against his McLaren teammate Lando Norris. Piastri is leading with 284 points in comparison to Norris' 275.

Oscar Piastri's take on 'fine-tuning' the 2026 cars

While Oscar Piastri has offered his take on the very different 2026 F1 car, in the same interaction, he also took the time to talk about the need for 'fine-tuning' before the drivers go racing next year.

In line with this, the McLaren driver said:

"I don’t know if it’s necessarily tricky, it’s just different in a lot of ways. Yes, I think there are definitely things that I think as a sport we can fine-tune a bit before we go racing, but I think it will mainly be different than what we have now. I think it is still capable of putting on a very entertaining sport and a competitive sport, but I think it will look quite different."

The turbo-hybrid era (2014 - 2021) of the sport was mainly dominated by the Mercedes Formula 1 team. When it comes to the ongoing ground-effect era (2022 - 2025), after the early domination by Red Bull and Max Verstappen, McLaren has finally caught up this year and even surpassed the Milton Keynes-based team in terms of car performance.

Taking all this into consideration, it is going to be fascinating to see which outfit, among the heavy hitters (Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull, McLaren), will set the early pace in 2026.