Oscar Piastri says following, unpredictable power spikes an issue with 2026 Formula 1 cars

Piastri was speaking in an interview on McLaren's website during the Pirelli tyre test the reigning Champions took part in at the Nürburgring a few days ago.

While Piastri pointed out the benefits of the new F1 cars' lower weight and smaller size, the positives ended there as he went on to point out the myriad of issues marring the new generation of F1 machines.

As a result, there has been a massive uproar among the drivers and fans, which has pushed Formula One Management and the governing FIA to find solutions before the upcoming race in Miami.

Reflecting, Piastri said: "Overall, these cars are very different to anything I have driven before. But we’ve known this would be the case since the new regulations were shared. It being so different is a new challenge for us as drivers, which isn’t a bad thing.

"One of the big differences with these cars is that they’re lighter and much shorter and narrower than 2025," he added. "This means they can be a bit more agile and can feel nicer in the lower-speed corners."

However, the Aussie continued: "The challenges around dirty air still stand and neutralize some of those benefits, as following is still an issue.

"There is also a lot more to think about in the car as a driver. You also have to think more tactically around quite a few things, especially on the power management side.

"These cars are also more unpredictable. You’ll have seen we often get spikes of power, which makes these cars do unexpected things," the McLaren driver pointed out.

The 25-year-old was the victim of such malfunctions caused by over-dependence on algorithms to control the current generation of power units.

He crashed his MCL40 on his way to the grid at his home race in Melbourne, which meant he couldn't start. He revealed at the time that the power unit delivered a power boost which wasn't supposed to happen.

Piastri urged for fixes while also highlighting the safety issues caused by the new power units, which caused Oliver Bearman's 50G crash in the Japanese Grand Prix.

He said: "This is just one area of quite a few that needs to be looked at and changed in the imminent future, highlighted further by a few different incidents across the season so far.

"I know we are working closely with the FIA, F1, and other teams to ensure these things are being looked at to ensure safe, but fun and exciting, racing for everyone," Piastri concluded.