Oscar Piastri has called for talks ahead of the Australian Grand Prix, as he raised safety concerns at race starts, and uncertainties around overtaking.<\/p>\n
For Piastri<\/a>, it \u201csounds like a recipe for disaster\u201d to have 22 of these low-downforce cars on a circuit, though race starts is where he believes the true safety hazard to be, claiming it could be like Formula 2 for some drivers. Piastri did clarify though that the chaotic practice start in Bahrain was not linked to the new engines.<\/p>\n Oscar Piastri claims \u2018plenty of topics to address\u2019 before Melbourne<\/p>\n Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for news you can trust.<\/p>\n The first, official pre-season test of F1 2026 in Bahrain is complete. The new generation F1 cars have received mixed reviews from drivers. Piastri\u2019s McLaren teammate, and reigning World Champion, Lando Norris, called the cars \u201ca lot of fun,\u201d while George Russell is waiting to see how the regulations develop, having suggested it is a \u201cstep forward.\u201d<\/p>\n Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen though are among the drivers to have expressed concerns.<\/p>\n Verstappen was particularly punchy in his assessment, calling the new rules \u201canti-racing\u201d and branding it \u201cFormula E on steroids.\u201d<\/p>\n Piastri got plenty of laps under his belt in the new McLaren on day three in Bahrain. In fact, he completed a mammoth 161 laps across the day.<\/p>\n McLaren, Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari still looks like the top four, but in what order, changes from team to team, as the game of pass the parcel with the pacesetters tag continues.<\/p>\n \u201cWhere we are in the pecking order, I don\u2019t know,\u201d said Piastri, as he spoke with PlanetF1.com and others. \u201cI think it kind of looks like the top four teams are still the top four teams, but I don\u2019t know where exactly we sit in that at the moment.<\/p>\n \u201cThe cars are certainly different, that\u2019s for sure. I think the low-speed corners probably feel the same, or maybe a little bit nicer because it\u2019s a little bit lighter, but yeah, obviously the high-speed performance in terms of downforce is significantly less than last year.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd we\u2019ve been learning a lot about how to get the most out of the power unit this week, which, yeah, is unconventional, definitely. But, new challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n With its 50\/50 split of electric and biofuel power, the new engines are set to bring a major shake-up to how the stars of F1 2026 must drive their car.<\/p>\n One of the big talking points has been how the launch procedure will change at race starts. A practice at the end of day three in Bahrain caused concern, with Piastri one of several cars delayed in launching, while Franco Colapinto almost found the wall when he lit up the rear tyres in his Alpine, looking to generate some temperature.<\/p>\n Piastri said that there was nothing sinister going on from a power unit point of view.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the start today was just a mix-up in instructions,\u201d he said. \u201cI got told to wait until whoever was in front of me had gone and then do my own launch, and not do it to the lights.<\/p>\n \u201cClearly, some other people had a different idea.<\/p>\n \u201cSo that was nothing to do with the power units.\u201d<\/p>\n However, Piastri stresses that race starts is an area which requires urgent attention before the first race in Melbourne.<\/p>\n \u201cStarts need to be addressed, because, probably as we\u2019ve all seen, it\u2019s a pretty complicated process now to have a safe start, let alone a competitive one,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cSo it\u2019s something that we\u2019ll talk about between now and Melbourne, I\u2019m sure.\u201d<\/p>\n It is not only starts which Piastri believes should be a pre-Melbourne talking point.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd there\u2019s plenty of topics to address,\u201d he continued. \u201cStarts, overtaking.<\/p>\n \u201cOvertaking is certainly going to be different as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Gone is the Drag Reduction System [DRS]. Instead, drivers will have the electrical boost and overtake modes<\/a> among their attacking armoury.<\/p>\n \u201cDRS was obviously just a pure advantage used to gain, whereas now, with the energy boost, you\u2019ve obviously got to harvest that extra energy somehow and then deploy it, which with some of the rules in place, is not always that straightforward,\u201d said Piastri.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s also some optimisation from all the manufacturers, I\u2019m sure, on how to redistribute things and make overtaking as easy as it can be.<\/p>\n \u201cI think following is very similar to last year, in all honesty, which is not a big surprise to me, but there\u2019s definitely a lot of things to talk about and address before Melbourne.\u201d<\/p>\n Put to him that he did not look particularly enamoured with what he has experienced in the F1 2026 machinery, Piastri added: \u201cI think it\u2019s just complex.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of things that we\u2019ve never had to do before, and they are just challenging by nature, because some of them are not very instinctive. And when you\u2019ve kind of driven a certain way for the last 15 years, it\u2019s pretty tough to undo some of those things, especially when some of them are lifting on straights or stuff like that.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously, as a driver, you never want to be lifting at any point.<\/p>\n \u201cBut yeah, I think, even without some of the challenges that we\u2019ve got and the things we need to address as a sport, ultimately, they are cars that are slower, and then have less downforce and probably more power out of the corners, so they\u2019re always going to feel difficult to drive and tricky.<\/p>\n \u201cThat aspect is kind of one thing, and then there\u2019s all the aspects that are new and need some reform.\u201d<\/p>\n Piastri stated that the cars do still feel \u201clike an F1 car should\u201d in terms of grip, though the \u201ccrazy amount of power\u201d coming out of corners \u201cis pretty tough to manage\u201d at times.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I think we also need to remember that the cars we had last year were at some tracks, the fastest F1 cars ever, so anything that feels worse than that is always going to be not quite as fun at the start,\u201d Piastri added.<\/p>\n \u201cSo I think it still feels sensible. There\u2019s just a lot of other things that are very different.\u201d<\/p>\n Latest F1 2026 talking points via PlanetF1.com<\/p>\n Fernando Alonso jokes \u2018chef could drive\u2019 in assessment of F1 2026 regs<\/a><\/p>\n Russell: Should be watching \u2018pretty scary\u2019 Red Bull, not Mercedes engine<\/a><\/p>\n Asked what the biggest safety concern is for him, starts or potential closing speeds when overtaking, Piastri pointed to the former.<\/p>\n However, he warned that, to his mind, it sounds like a \u201crecipe for disaster\u201d having 22 of these new low-downforce cars pounding around.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the starts is probably the most obvious one for now,\u201d he said. \u201cOvertaking, it\u2019s always going to be tough to manage until you\u2019ve actually had a race.<\/p>\n \u201cWhether we use straight mode at the start or not as well.<\/p>\n \u201cI think a pack of 22 cars with a couple hundred points less downforce sounds like a recipe for disaster to me, but there\u2019s a few of those aspects that need to be spoke about.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked if he is worried that a debate around race starts could become political among the manufacturers, Piastri reasoned: \u201cThe thing is, everyone\u2019s going to need different things for the start. And to be completely honest with you, I\u2019m not sure any of us know exactly what we need yet.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve probably got rough ideas.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m sure we\u2019ll find a way to do a proper start. It\u2019s just that the difference between a good and bad start last year was you got a bit of wheelspin or you had a bad reaction time, whereas this year, it could be, effectively, like an F2 race, where you almost go into anti-stall or something. You\u2019re not just losing five meters or so. You can be losing six or seven spots, if it goes well.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, there\u2019s a lot of things.\u201d<\/p>\n Piastri concluded: \u201cThere\u2019s so many things just from an even borderline safety point of view that need to be kind of figured out on track, that do need addressing.\u201d<\/p>\n Additional reporting by Thomas Maher<\/p>\n Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp<\/a> to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.<\/p>\n You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel<\/a> for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!<\/p>\n