Piastri Admits McLaren's Need for Speed After P6 in Malaysia

Oscar Piastri has shared his thoughts on McLaren's performance at the Malaysia Grand Prix, where the team struggled to keep up with the frontrunners. Piastri, who finished in sixth place, was candid about the need for the team to find more speed.

The race at Sepang began with a weather-induced delay and a questionable strategy. Piastri and his teammate Lando Norris started on medium tyres, a decision that quickly proved misguided as the track was still too wet for slicks. Piastri was forced into an early pit stop to switch to intermediates, which pushed him down the order.

Despite the setback, Piastri managed to claw back positions, navigating a second pit stop under the Safety Car to switch to hard tyres. His teammate Norris had a near-miss during the eventful Safety Car phase, almost collecting Piastri in the process.

Reflecting on his own performance, Piastri was pleased with his personal effort but acknowledged the team's limitations. "Overall, reasonably happy," he said. "I think it went pretty well on a personal note. I felt like I did a pretty good job today, which was good. Unfortunately, we just weren't quick enough to really do that much."

The final Safety Car was a particular frustration for Piastri, who was closing in on Ferrari's Charles Leclerc before the interruption. "The last Safety Car was a bit of a shame, because I was catching Charles pretty quick. But no, apart from that, just a tricky afternoon. We didn't quite make the right calls, and ultimately we weren't quick enough, so that was the biggest thing," Piastri remarked.

When asked about McLaren's position relative to teams like Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull, Piastri was frank. "Yeah, I mean, I think Red Bull clearly here have been incredibly fast, for sure. I think it's been the strongest they've been," he admitted. "I think clearly whatever they put on the car in Baku's been a big step forward for them, because last weekend without the bad Qualifying they had, they probably would have… well, I mean Max nearly won the race anyway, and this weekend Max did win the race, so they've been very, very strong the last couple of weekends."

Piastri noted that McLaren and Ferrari seem to be competing in a similar bracket, though not one that challenges for race wins. "We need to improve. We know that, and we'll try our best to make sure we try and improve," he said.

As McLaren looks ahead, the need for speed is clear if they hope to challenge the likes of Red Bull and Ferrari consistently. For now, Piastri's focus remains on extracting every bit of performance from his car while the team works on closing the gap.