McLaren arrives at the Italian GP, which takes place from September 4 to 6, with an important question: whether the good performance shown after the summer break will be maintained in Monza, a circuit with characteristics very different from the last stages of the 2026 Formula 1 calendar. For Oscar Piastri, the Italian track will be a true test for the team’s pace.
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Lando Norris started from pole and won in Hungary and the Netherlands, tracks marked by short straights and many long corners. Monza, on the other hand, is the fastest circuit in F1. In 2025, the fastest lap records in qualifying and race time were broken, still in the last year of the ground effect regulation.
The challenge increases because McLaren itself recognizes that its MCL40 chassis has quite a bit of aerodynamic drag, a characteristic not very favorable to the Italian layout.
“I mean, it’s hard to know because these two circuits have quite similar characteristics: very short straights, many corners, and generally quite long corners,” Piastri said about Hungaroring and Zandvoort, projecting how McLaren would perform in Monza. “Monza is going to be a completely different beast for several reasons, but we’ll have to wait and see if that pace translates to other circuits.”
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The Australian also pointed out problems that continue to affect the car’s performance. According to him, the rear is difficult to control and, despite an improvement in qualifying at the Dutch GP, lacked speed during the race: “I think in races, the rear of the car is very difficult to drive, and even in qualifying, in recent weekends it has been difficult, but [at the Dutch GP] the qualifying weekend was much better, and I felt much more confident,” he said.
“And I think at certain moments in the race, I felt much better with that, but the pace just wasn’t there. This is not the first race this year where that has happened. Some were good, some were very strong, but there have already been many now where I was really very far off,” the driver concluded.
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