Oscar Piastri’s frustrating 2026 continued after a pit stop drama and late fade out consigned him to sixth at the Dutch Grand Prix – and he admitted afterwards he is struggling for answers.
12 months on from his epic victory at Zandvoort, Piastri looked set to challenge for the title again after an early overtake of George Russell vaulted him up to third, having qualified in fourth.
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But not for the first time, he’d be let down by his own team.
A poor pit stop on Lap 18 saw him grounded for 5.4 seconds – 2.4 seconds longer than Russell – with the Brit retaking third position.
It proved a hammer blow, with the Australian fading late to finish a distant sixth, more than 30 seconds behind McLaren teammate and winner Lando Norris.
McLaren blunder undoes Piastri magic | 01:33
Speaking after the race, Piastri admitted the pit error “didn’t help, for sure”, but said his issues ran deeper.
“Regardless of that the pace just wasn’t particularly good, unfortunately,” he said.
“It was a struggle from that point on (the pit stop). Just really didn’t have enough pace.”
When asked if he was surprised by the lack of speed – especially compared to Norris – Piastri’s response was blunt.
“Yes,” he answered.
But when pressed on whether he had any reasons why, the 25-year old replied: “Unfortunately, no.”
Piastri had even fewer answers in an interview with Sky Sports, again citing the lack of pace.
“The first lap was good – after the red flag (following Max Verstappen’s lap one crash) was good,” he said.
“And then the first stint felt OK, and then after that I just had nothing.
“I don’t know why, but plenty to look into.”
Oscar Piastri after his sixth-placed finish at the Dutch Grand Prix.Source: FOX SPORTS
He would later add in his post-race press conference: “Obviously, the slow first stop was a bit painful and then the pace after that was painful.”
He was again blunt when asked what he had been missing.
“Pace,” he answered.
“I don’t really have any more answers than that.”
Questions were also raised over Piastri beginning on hard tyres, which he admitted post-race was a mistake.
“The idea was to start on a hard and then go to the end,” he said.
“But it became clear pretty quickly that the hard wasn’t actually great.
“I think that side of things wasn’t that much of an issue … there were a lot of different strategies and I don’t think ours was really the issue of our race today.”
Piastri was also warned by F1 legend Lewis Hamilton after a “dangerous move” when he was overtaken by both Ferrari drivers.
Lewis warns Oscar over ‘dangerous move’ | 01:15
After breaking out in spectacular fashion with a seven-win 2025 to challenge for the World Drivers Championship, 2026 has been a source of endless frustration for Piastri.
He sits seventh in the standings, and has finished outside the top three at the last eight Grands Prix going back to May.
McLaren have regularly been accused of prioritising Norris over the Australian, with 1996 F1 world champion Damon Hill saying in the lead-up to the Dutch Grand Prix there was “some evidence” of bias conspiracy theories.