Oscar Piastri has warned that McLaren faces a stern challenge at the Austrian Grand Prix, conceding the team will “definitely not” be the one to beat as rivals Ferrari, Mercedes, and Red Bull converge with significant performance gains.
Speaking at the official FIA press conference ahead of the race weekend at the Red Bull Ring, Piastri acknowledged that despite McLaren’s historically strong record at the circuit, the competitive landscape has shifted. “Ferrari took a good step forward in Barcelona, Mercedes is still the benchmark as well, and I’m hearing along the grapevine that Red Bull have got some big things as well,” Piastri said. “Hopefully we can get close and kind of be in the position that we have been at certain points, where we can capitalise on dramas for others. But to be able to do it on merit or pure pace is going to be a bit of a stretch.”
Piastri described his first half of the 2026 season as “very up and down” and “probably a bit more down than it has been up.” He said the team has conducted extensive analysis following a difficult Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona and believes it has identified the issues that hampered his performance. “We’ve done a lot of homework as to why the race in Barcelona was such a struggle for me. I think we’ve got a good idea why and a good plan on how to not repeat that,” he said.
Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar confirmed the team is bringing upgrades to its RB22 for the Austrian round and set clear ambitions for the weekend. “Clearly we’ve been the fourth strongest team so far and on pure pace being on the podium would be, I think, a really good step forward,” Hadjar said.
The press conference also revisited the ongoing Monaco Grand Prix controversy, which continues to cast a shadow over the season. Pierre Gasly confirmed he has received his third-place trophy from that race following a successful post-race appeal by Alpine, but McLaren and Red Bull are appealing that decision. Piastri reiterated McLaren’s position without directing criticism at Alpine. “It’s nothing against Pierre or Alpine. It’s more just that if we had known that certain things had played out the way they did, we would have made different decisions in the race, which we don’t really think is correct,” he said.
Gasly argued that correcting officiating errors is the right approach for the sport. “If a mistake was done and can be corrected, because it’s been unfairly given for no wrongdoing, I think it’s the right thing as a sport to do it,” the Alpine driver said. Piastri, however, cautioned about the precedent being set, noting that the official results of the Monaco race remain unresolved weeks later. “You could just end up with everybody not serving their penalties and then arguing about it for weeks after, which is not what anyone wants to see,” he said.
Gasly also reflected on Alpine’s season, calling it the best start to a campaign he has experienced with the team. He praised the squad’s reliability record while expressing a desire to close the gap to the leading four teams. “The midfield is kind of swinging one way or another depending on the weekend. Sometimes we’re slightly closer to the top four,” Gasly said. “I’d like to see us catching the train ahead of us a little bit more.”
The Austrian Grand Prix weekend gets underway with practice sessions at the Red Bull Ring as all eyes turn to whether Red Bull’s home upgrades can shake up the competitive order.