Martin Brundle makes 'painful' admission about Oscar Piastri F1 decline

Sky Sports expert Martin Brundle says Oscar Piastri's F1 struggles in 2026 are "painful to witness".

The 25-year-old from Melbourne is currently languishing in seventh position in the Drivers' standings - a massive 221 points behind champion elect Kimi Antonelli. He also trails McLaren team-mate Lando Norris by 67 points.

This is a far cry from the summer of 2025, when Piastri led the title race on the back of a string of impressive drives, and looked a strong bet to deliver a championship to McLaren.

That title challenge petered out as team-mate Norris eventually took the crown for the papaya squad, and the hangover for Oscar in 2026 has been a big one.

He has struggled to get to grips with the new cars this season, which came in on the back of a new and sweeping set of regulations.

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Brundle: 'Oscar simply can't seem to gel with 2026 cars'

Piastri again had a miserable afternoon in Sunday's US Grand Prix in Texas, finishing P7 and more than 22 seconds behind team-mate Norris in P5.

Writing in his Sky Sports column, former F1 star Brundle noted the Piastri decline, and his ongoing struggles with the 2026 cars.

"Oscar Piastri in the sister McLaren had another disappointing race, lacking front-running pace from relatively early on and finishing 52 seconds behind the winner," he said.

"Oscar simply can't seem to gel with the 2026 cars and it's painful to witness after his stellar run last year."

Piastri has been linked with McLaren exit

Piastri's struggles come during a season where he also been linked with an exit from McLaren - notably when the team was pursuing four-time world champion Max Verstappen.

Paddock rumours claimed Piastri could be part of a swap deal sending him to Red Bull while Verstappen moved to McLaren.

Those rumours were put to bed, for now at least, when Verstappen signed a massive new Red Bull contract extension in August which runs through to 2030.

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