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Oscar Piastri believes the difficult conditions at the Formula 1 British Grand Prix exposed one of the main reasons McLaren has struggled to match Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull in recent rounds.
McLaren arrived at Silverstone with the MCL40 a long way off the leading pace in both qualifying and the race. That represented a sharp contrast to the form that had made the team a championship favourite for much of the season.
Lando Norris recovered to fourth on Sunday after a difficult start, but Piastri finished 11th. The Australian lacked confidence throughout the weekend and was unable to reproduce the rhythm that had previously carried him to victories.
The high-speed sequence of Maggots, Becketts and Chapel highlighted a familiar weakness. The MCL40 struggled to provide the front-end stability required to attack Silverstone’s fast, committed corners with confidence.
Piastri, however, pointed to a broader problem: McLaren’s performance falls away when grip and conditions become inconsistent.
“I think the conditions [at Silverstone] have definitely exposed where we are weak,” Piastri told media, including Motorsport Week. “When the grip is good, when things are consistent, we can be in or close to the fight. When things look consistent, we look okay and mask some of our issues.”
He added that qualifying offered the team “nowhere to hide”, making the scale of its deficit less surprising.
Piastri’s assessment suggests McLaren is working with a narrow performance window. Silverstone’s changeable weather and inconsistent grip removed the conditions in which the car’s strengths are most effective, leaving its weaknesses fully exposed.
The issue is not limited to one circuit. Piastri said McLaren had also struggled in Canada and Monaco when tyre temperatures were difficult to establish, as well as when wind levels were high or conditions moved slightly beyond the team’s comfort zone.
“We’ve got some clear areas we want to work on, but at the moment, we clearly seem to struggle when things are a bit more difficult,” he said.
That makes the required recovery more significant than a single set-up adjustment. McLaren must improve how consistently the MCL40 performs when the operating conditions are less favourable, particularly as Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull have shown they can capitalise when McLaren loses its sweet spot.
The challenge comes as the team looks to accelerate its development effort; Zak Brown has insisted McLaren will match Ferrari’s upgrade push. Read more in our report on McLaren’s planned upgrade rate.
Piastri’s candour at Silverstone may be uncomfortable, but identifying the weakness is the first step towards restoring McLaren’s winning form and protecting its championship ambitions through the remainder of the season.
He’s a software engineer with a deep passion for Formula 1 and motorsport. He co-founded Formula Live Pulse to make live telemetry and race insights accessible, visual, and easy to follow.