{"id":466051,"date":"2026-06-07T23:46:22","date_gmt":"2026-06-07T23:46:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/466051\/"},"modified":"2026-06-07T23:46:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-07T23:46:22","slug":"f1-news-oscar-piastri-at-a-loss-over-mclarens-lack-of-pace-in-monaco","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/466051\/","title":{"rendered":"F1 news: Oscar Piastri at a loss over McLaren\u2019s lack of pace in Monaco"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Piastri
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOscar Piastri finished fourth in Monaco. Image: XPB Images<\/p>\n

The Australian climbed from seventh on the grid to fourth by the chequered flag, capitalising on penalties and late-race drama to secure 12 valuable championship points on a difficult weekend for the Woking squad.<\/p>\n

Piastri admitted the result was a positive outcome given the circumstances, even if McLaren lacked the pace to challenge the frontrunners throughout the weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you make up three spots in Monaco, that\u2019s always a good day,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhilst I didn\u2019t do the overtaking myself, we did a good job of taking advantage of things playing out ahead of us and being smart with the strategy.<\/p>\n

\u201cGetting those 12 points was important.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Piastri maximised the opportunities that came his way, he acknowledged McLaren\u2019s underlying performance was a concern heading into the next round in Spain.<\/p>\n

Buy tickets to the 2026 betr Darwin Triple Crown. Click here <\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, our pace wasn\u2019t very strong today and we need to work out why we have struggled so much this weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cLooking ahead to Barcelona and further on into the season, we have a lot of work to do to close the gap to the front runners.<\/p>\n

\u201cThanks to the team for their work, let\u2019s see what we can do next weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Piastri\u2019s clean and composed drive provided one of the few bright spots for McLaren on an afternoon dominated by another commanding performance from Kimi Antonelli<\/a>, who claimed a fifth consecutive victory and extended his championship advantage.<\/p>\n

The Australian had spent much of the race running quietly inside the top six before late incidents, safety cars and penalties elevated him further up the order.<\/p>\n

After crossing the line fifth on the road, he was promoted to fourth following a penalty for Pierre Gasly.<\/p>\n

McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella praised Piastri\u2019s execution in a race where opportunities were limited.<\/p>\n

\u201cOscar drove an exceptionally precise and controlled race,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe kept it clean, made almost no mistakes, and executed our plan perfectly.<\/p>\n

Despite the result, Stella echoed Piastri\u2019s concerns about the team\u2019s competitiveness.<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite the positive operational and strategic decisions, we have to be honest with ourselves regarding our underlying pace,\u201d he admitted.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, Ferrari and Mercedes were operating in a completely different dimension.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is clear that McLaren has a significant amount of work to do back at the factory to make the car fundamentally faster and more reliable.\u201d<\/p>\n

The race proved far more painful on the other side of the garage, with defending world champion Lando Norris suffering his second consecutive retirement after a power unit issue forced him out on lap 45.<\/p>\n

It marked the first back-to-back DNFs of Norris\u2019 F1 career and leaves his title defence hanging by a thread.<\/p>\n

The Briton now trails championship leader Antonelli by 98 points, with neither Norris nor Piastri having managed to win a grand prix in 2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t our weekend and, unfortunately, it\u2019s another DNF for the team,\u201d Norris said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe faced issues from Friday that had the team working until 4am into Saturday to get the car back on track, only to encounter another problem in the race.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s tough and frustrating for everyone because we\u2019re putting in a huge effort to improve, but at the moment reliability is getting the better of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Norris said the team remained determined to address its reliability concerns ahead of the upcoming Barcelona round.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll keep our heads up and stay positive,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know the areas we need to address, and reliability is top of the list.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe team deserves credit for their commitment, and we\u2019ll keep working hard for them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m hopeful we can return to form in Barcelona, give ourselves something to be excited about, and show what we can do next time out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stella later confirmed the retirement was caused by a previously unseen power unit anomaly that eventually became terminal despite efforts to manage the issue.<\/p>\n


\"\"\/
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