Oscar Piastri has revealed that the McLaren dominance in this year’s Formula 1 season was initially offset by one area in which the team was “genuinely struggling”.
The Australian has shown no signs of struggling when it matters on track so far this year, holding a 31-point lead over team-mate Lando Norris in the Drivers’ Championship.
Both Piastri and Norris have been the only title protagonists, with the papaya squad’s MCL39 having been the outright class of the field, winning all but four races so far this year.
Such has been McLaren’s dominance that it could wrap up its second consecutive Constructors’ Championship at this weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
But Piastri, speaking to Motorsport.com, revealed that pre-season testing in Bahrain showed an initial but significant Achilles’ heel in its package.
“I think in testing in Bahrain we had some concerns about not necessarily the steering or the front suspension, but just the car was very tricky to drive on the limit in testing,” he said.
“Our race runs were always very strong, but in the kind of qualifying sims, we were genuinely struggling.
“We had a lot of work to do to try and unlock that. And I think you’ve still seen kind of episodes of that through the year.
“Canada for example, a few other tracks where it has been quite difficult to drive on the limit and that’s probably been the thing we’ve been most vocal about, partly because everything else has been so good.”
Original McLaren front suspension has left Piastri ‘pretty happy’
One particular area of the MCL39 that has, on the face of it, been the difference between Piastri and Norris was the front suspension.
Norris felt a lack of feeling through it, causing a downturn in his own performance and a chance for Piastri to open up a buffer in the first chunk of the season.
A return to the drawing board saw an alternative front suspension with thicker cross-sections, which gave Norris a far better feeling of the car through his hands on the wheel.
It coincided with the Briton’s return to form and the reduction in Piastri’s title lead, which only opened back up after Norris’ shocking DNF in Zandvoort.
Piastri has opted not to use this front suspension, opining that for him, the original has worked.
“I’ve not really struggled with that feeling or sensation,” he addressed.
“We’ve tried different things with the front suspension to see if it changes much. But for me I’ve been pretty happy with how it’s been.
“For me it’s not been a big concern, but definitely I still shared initially anyway the kind of same feelings about the car being pretty difficult to drive in some conditions.
“I think we’ve done a much better job of addressing that with set-up and also just for me expectations and getting used to the car more.
“But there’s not really a specific trait that I don’t like anymore.”
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