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Piastri reveals papaya rules 'caused some headaches that we didn't need'

08:00, 05 Feb

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byTobia Elia

Oscar Piastri has explained that McLaren's papaya rules “will look different” in the 2026 season

“We probably caused some headaches for ourselves that we didn't need to at points last year”

- Oscar Piastri

Speaking to a select group of media, including GPblog, Piastri admitted that what unfolded last season caused a few “headaches,” adding that simplifying the process was the best course of action heading into the new season.

“It will look different. I think for me, as Andrea (Stella) said, streamlining is a wise decision to make. We probably caused some headaches for ourselves that we didn't need to at points last year.

“I think as a general principle and a general kind of way of going racing, it does bring a lot of positives with it. it's just how do we refine that to try and keep it to just positives, basically. So again, I think there was a lot more, there is always a lot more made out about it than actually happens.

He finally added: “There's a lot of hypothetical situations and a lot of people that kind of think without knowing that the complete inner workings, a lot of things appear differently to how they actually are. Some tweaks for sure this year, but I think it's pretty clear that we still want to go racing as much as a team as we can.”

Photo: RacePictures

Piastri 'started to grasp’ early signs from MCL40 after Barcelona testing

The Australian logged an encouraging 79 laps in the morning session on the final day of running, with McLaren being in action on the final three days of the Barcelona test.

Even with decent mileage under his belt, Piastri remains clear that there is still significant work ahead. The focus, for now, is on refining the set-up and gaining a deeper understanding of how the 2026 cars behave compared to last year’s machines, before any real emphasis can be placed on outright speed.

Read the full story here.