Oscar Piastri is about to start his fourth year in Formula 1 behind the wheel of a completely different McLaren.

Just over a week out from the 2026 Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne the 24-year-old Aussie says he’s rested, recharged and focused on taking the next step in his still-young F1 career.

“It was nice to go back to Australia and take a bit of a step away from F1 and racing,” Piastri said of his off-season break, revealing he’s excited about the challenge of piloting a new car in 2026 even if the grid—and the racing itself—promises to be vastly different from 2025.

“There’s a lot for us to learn and focus on going into the new season,” he admitted.

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In his first three seasons on the F1 circuit Piastri has placed ninth, fourth and third in the Drivers Championship.

Last year, he went head-to-head with McLaren teammate Lando Norris and Red Bull legend Max Verstappen for much of the season before fading in the final races.

‘Some of those lessons were pretty tough to take’ admits Piastri of 2025

While losing his championship lead was a bitter pill to swallow at the time, Piastri is now more philosophical about the experience.

“The off-season gave me a bit of perspective on how early on in my F1 career I still am, to have had the opportunity to fight for a Championship at this stage, even if I didn’t get the result I wanted, is still pretty special,” he said. 

“The areas I was most pleased with were the way I went about racing —my mindset and my mentality—and how those stood up to the test.

“Even though some of those lessons were pretty tough to take I came away feeling like I had learned new skills, it was nice to finish the season feeling like I had grown in more ways than simply being a faster race car driver.”

‘We can turn things around incredibly quickly’

Like many drivers on the 2026 starting grid, Piastri is currently experiencing a regulations reset for the first time in his career as teams usher in a new generation of smaller and more agile cars.

“There’s been a lot of talk and speculation from everyone, including us as drivers, as to what these new cars would be like,” he said.

“Rule changes are a part of F1 and we’ve known that this has been coming for a long time, we’ve always been confident as a team that we are capable of tackling any ruleset that we’re given.

“We proved to ourselves during the last ruleset that even if we start on the back foot, we can turn things around incredibly quickly. We went from being satisfied with getting a point or two to winning the Constructors’ Championship within two seasons.”

Describing the rule changes as a ‘massive reset for everybody’ Piastri isn’t underestimating the challenges ahead in 2026. 

“There will be a lot to learn and I think you will see a rapid rate of development. Other teams will have more wind tunnel time than we do, so we are doing it the hard way, but that comes with success.

“We’re prepared to get stuck in to try and stay at the top.”

The 2026 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix will be held from March 5-8 at Albert Park in Melbourne.