Photo: RacePictures

Piastri hailed driver of the year over Verstappen, Mercedes '26 PU sound teased

07:31, 20 Dec

byLuke-John Buckle

Let's take a look at the top stories from Formula 1 as Max Verstappen and Lando Norris were snubbed as best drivers of the year. Mercedes also released an audio recording of their 2026 power unit.

Bernie Collins chose Oscar Piastri as driver of the year

Oscar Piastri missed out on his first world championship this year, taking third in the standings for McLaren.

The Australian finished 13 points behind his world champion teammate Norris after the season finale in Abu Dhabi.

Piastri started the season in excellent form, winning four of the first six Grands Prix.

He then built a 34-point lead by the end of the Dutch Grand Prix, but hasn't won a Grand Prix since and missed out on the title.

Despite the slump after the summer break, Sky Sports F1 pundit Bernie Collins feels Piastri set the benchmark in terms of driver performance.

By contrast, former F1 driver Karun Chandhok picked Verstappen, and so did Ted Kravitz and Simon Lazenby.

Photo: RacePictures.

Mercedes' 2026 power unit teaser

Mercedes relased a teaser of their 2026 power unit ahead of the new set of Formula 1 regulations next year.

The German team never set the pace throughout the ground effect era, lagging behind Red Bull and later McLaren.

This came after dominating the early part of the hybrid era, winning eight consecutive Constructors' Championships from 2014-2021.

The new era in 2026 will see the power units utilise a 50-50 split before internal combustion and electric power.

Formula 1's new generation of cars will also be slightly smaller than their 2025 counterparts and have active aero on the front and rear wings.

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