Oscar Piastri hints McLaren trouble with Mercedes power unit

F1 star Oscar Piastri has hinted that McLaren experienced some unexpected problems with their Mercedes power unit during the 2026 Barcelona shakedown.

Between January 26 and January 30, all 11 teams on the 2026 grid were given a choice of five days to spend a maximum of three out on track, testing their new machinery.

Ahead of the 2026 championship there will be three rounds of pre-season testing, triple the amount on offer this time last year due to the need for drivers and teams to get to grips with their cars, which now adhere to the sport's updated regulations.

McLaren managed to complete 291 laps with Piastri and his reigning champion team-mate Lando Norris at the wheel, although their running got off to a shaky start, with the team forced to cut Thursday's running short thanks to a fuel systems issue.

And the papaya team's reported number of laps cowers in comparison to the 500 delivered by George Russell and Kimi Antonelli for McLaren's power unit provider, Mercedes.

READ MORE: The 2026 F1 grid, ranked entirely on vibes

Piastri looking for better understanding of new McLaren

Whilst Mercedes have got everyone talking over the impressive reliability on show at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Piastri hinted to F1 in Barcelona that his team had to spend some time trying to understand 'problems' with the new power unit.

McLaren have remained a customer team of Mercedes since 2021, although the two teams have shared an on and off technical partnership multiple times throughout the sport's history.

After the final day of the Barcelona shakedown on Friday, Piastri told F1.com: "Still definitely a lot to learn, especially on the power unit side of things - just how you get the most out of it and how you go the fastest.

"Still plenty of things to learn there. We understood some of the problems, some of the limitations and some of the things that are different compared to last year - both on the power unit and the car."

Though the Aussie racer went on to admit that McLaren had experienced 'no major surprises' with how the Mercedes power unit works, he explained that further understanding was still needed around its performance after McLaren had found some things 'did not work as expected' in Barcelona.

When does the 2026 F1 season start?

Piastri and McLaren will be back in action when the 2026 season starts in Melbourne for the Australian Grand Prix. The first race of the year takes place on March 8 at 3pm local time (AEDT), 4am GMT, and 11pm ET. The first round of pre-season tests in Bahrain will kick off on February 11 until 13, before the second round continues from February 18 until February 20.

READ MORE: Verstappen battled illness during gruelling Barcelona F1 testing

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