PIASTRI’S MONZA STRUGGLES EXPOSE A DEEPER MCLAREN ISSUE
McLaren has been forced to take a closer look at its MCL40 after Oscar Piastri’s difficult Italian Grand Prix weekend exposed a braking problem that team principal Andrea Stella believes requires further investigation.
Piastri finished fifth at Monza, just 0.197 seconds behind teammate Lando Norris, but the final result disguised a much more frustrating weekend for the Australian. His biggest difficulties emerged during qualifying, when he repeatedly struggled to control the front of the McLaren under heavy braking.
The problem became particularly obvious during Q3 at the Rettifilo chicane, where Piastri locked his front tyres while attempting to complete his final flying lap.
STELLA ADMITS MCLAREN HAS MORE WORK TO DO
Stella acknowledged that McLaren had already identified braking performance as an area requiring improvement, but Piastri’s Monza experience appears to have convinced the team that the problem needs deeper examination.
The McLaren boss pointed specifically to difficulties in slow corners and the behaviour of the braking system. The team is already preparing an updated brake package for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, but Stella indicated that engineers now need to investigate the issue further rather than simply relying on the planned upgrade.
That could be significant for Piastri. His driving style has already appeared less comfortable with some characteristics of the 2026 McLaren compared with Norris, and another weakness in the braking phase could be making it even harder for him to extract maximum performance.
THE QUALIFYING LOCK-UP COST MCLAREN
Piastri’s front-right lock-up at Monza was particularly costly because McLaren had hoped to use him to give Norris a slipstream during the final stages of qualifying.
Piastri had deliberately left the pit lane first because McLaren expected him to receive a grid penalty after being involved in an impeding incident with Red Bull stand-in Liam Lawson. The plan was therefore to sacrifice Piastri’s qualifying position to help Norris gain valuable straight-line speed.
Instead, the braking mistake compromised the run and Norris failed to receive the expected benefit.
Piastri initially qualified third while Norris was ninth, but penalties eventually moved Piastri down to sixth and Norris up to eighth. What could have been a major qualifying advantage therefore became another example of McLaren failing to maximise its potential.
BAKU COULD TEST THE MCL40’S WEAKNESSES
McLaren is now heading toward the Azerbaijan Grand Prix with its braking upgrade firmly in focus. Baku’s long straights and extremely slow corners make it a particularly revealing circuit for a car struggling with both efficiency and low-speed performance.
Stella has already acknowledged that circuits such as Baku and Madrid may not naturally suit the MCL40 because drivers need to position the car with exceptional precision through tight corners.
That makes the upcoming race more than just another round of the championship. It could provide McLaren with an immediate test of whether its latest technical changes are actually solving the underlying problems.
PIASTRI NEEDS MCLAREN TO FIND ANSWERS FAST
Piastri’s 2026 season has increasingly become a story of missed opportunities. While Norris continues to emerge as a serious championship contender, Piastri has struggled to consistently extract the same level of performance from the McLaren.
The braking issue may not explain his entire downturn, but it is another piece of evidence that the car is not giving him the confidence or consistency he needs.
With Baku approaching and the championship entering its decisive phase, McLaren cannot afford another weekend where technical weaknesses prevent its drivers from converting speed into results.
Stella’s investigation could therefore become one of the most important technical developments of McLaren’s season — and Piastri may be the driver who benefits most if the team finally finds the missing performance.
