McLaren lose out in F1 Nurburgring test after technical failure

McLaren star Oscar Piastri had his time at the wheel of his papaya F1 machinery cut short this week during a test run at the iconic Nurburgring.

It's a busy week at the German racetrack as Piastri's fellow F1 star Max Verstappen gears up for the Nurburgring 24 Hour qualifiers, with two races set to take place on the Nordschleife between Saturday, April 18 and Sunday, April 19.

But whilst the Dutchman prepares for his return to the wheel of the No.3 Mercedes-AMG, Piastri and his F1 team-mate Lando Norris have been busy taking part in a Pirelli tyre test, alongside Mercedes stars Kimi Antonelli and George Russell.

The two-day outing at the Nurburgring replaced the test for F1's tyre provider previously scheduled to take place in Bahrain in February, but had to be cancelled due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

These same world events resulted in F1 cancelling both the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix this month, freeing up April for the drivers with no replacement races selected.

F1 HEADLINES: How Verstappen could move to McLaren, Piastri talks retirement

Piastri's technical misfortune continues

The first day of testing at the Nurburgring took place on Tuesday and saw Piastri and Russell take to the classic track in damp conditions, completing installation laps on intermediate tyres, later trying out slicks as the conditions improved.

But whilst the Mercedes star moved on to longer runs later in the day, Piastri suffered an unspecified technical issue with his MCL40 putting him out of action for the majority of the afternoon.

Russell posted the fastest time of the day with a 1:33.899, with Piastri's best being a 1:35.096, and even though the point of this week's test was purely to trial Pirelli's new tyre specifications for 2027, the technical issues experienced by McLaren have continued an unfortunate trend for the Aussie in 2026.

Across the first three races of the campaign, Piastri has only been able to take part in one grand prix, finally completing race laps at the Japanese GP last time out and finishing on the podium.

The 25-year-old got his 2026 campaign off to a heartbreaking start when he crashed his McLaren on the way to the grid for the season-opening grand prix, which also marked his home race.

Then in Shanghai, both McLarens were unable to start the Chinese GP due to separate electrical issues within their Mercedes power units.

When is the next F1 race?

The Japanese Grand Prix at the end of March marked the last race for over a month, with fans, drivers and teams set for a five-week long enforced break in the 2026 calendar throughout April.

After F1 opted to cancel both the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix, the next race won't be until the Miami Grand Prix, which kicks off on May 1.

The fourth round of the 2026 championship will also mark the second sprint race of the year, with a single practice session taking place on Friday, May 1, before sprint qualifying at 4:30pm local time (EDT).

Saturday, May 2 will then see the sprint race kick off at midday EDT before qualifying for the main grand prix takes place at 4pm.

Sunday, May 3 will then likely see Brundle's grid walk return before lights out for the Miami GP at 4pm EDT.

READ MORE: McLaren F1 chief 'signs pre-contract with Ferrari' ahead of Lambiase transfer

Written by

Kerry Violet - F1 News Editor

Having graduated from the University of Sheffield with a 2:1 in Journalism in 2022, Kerry continued her pursuit of finding a full-time position in motorsport through work with the F1 Arcade in London, where she got to meet true fans of the sport and make a live grand prix watch party memorable for them. It was here that she confirmed her dream of combining her background in journalism and love of motorsport, going on to volunteer with the female-led platform Empoword Journalism. Having completed stints as a screen editor and sports editor, Kerry landed her first F1-specific editorial role with GPFans and has thoroughly enjoyed continuing to work closely with the sport ever since. The access GPFans offers Kerry has allowed her to interview big names such as Naomi Schiff and David Coulthard and given her experiences she could only have dreamt of as a young F1 fan.

View full biography