Piastri and Norris frustrated by Power Unit unpredictability: "It sucks"

Spa exposes the limits of driver control

The Formula 1 weekend at Spa-Francorchamps underlined a growing frustration with the 2026 power units: drivers can lose qualifying time because of energy-management behaviour they cannot fully control.

Stella also stressed that the system is highly sensitive. Minor variations in driver input can create a major difference later in the lap, while changes in grip and wind direction can produce a similar effect without being under the driver's control.

That appeared to affect Oscar Piastri in qualifying. Despite both McLaren power units running identical settings, he lost substantial time to team-mate Lando Norris. Stella suggested George Russell had encountered a comparable issue, having been unable to explain the time he lost to Kimi Antonelli on the straights. The wider context of Spa's power-unit demands has also featured in recent analysis of Mercedes' straight-line advantage.

“Way too many things are out of our control”

Piastri made his frustration clear when asked how it felt to be caught out by his own power unit.

“It sucks. I can't really say it any other way than that...”

The Australian said the problem was not unique to him or McLaren. He argued that qualifying grids should not be decided by computers “behaving or misbehaving”, particularly when a driver can feel level with a team-mate in the corners yet finish two tenths behind at the end of the lap.

Norris shared that concern. Although he benefited at Spa, he said power-unit problems had affected him throughout the season and that this was the first weekend when he felt competitive on the straights.

“There are certain things within your control and a lot of things, way too many things, that are out of your control,” Norris said, adding that qualifying can become a matter of hoping the power unit performs as expected.

No immediate fix in sight

Piastri does not expect the planned shift in the balance between combustion and electrical power to solve these specific problems. He said the issue is rooted in calibration and the way the engines learn, although he expects performance to improve as manufacturers understand the systems better.

For now, Spa has sharpened a difficult question for the 2026 era: how much of a qualifying lap should be decided by the driver, and how much by an unpredictable power unit?