Piastri Says McLaren Cannot Magically Find Pace

Oscar Piastri admitted McLaren cannot "magically generate performance" after qualifying seventh for the 2026 Austrian Grand Prix.

McLaren had looked competitive in Friday's qualifying simulations, but ultimately placed Lando Norris sixth and Piastri seventh on the grid. Piastri missed out on out-qualifying Norris by just 0.009 seconds, although both drivers remained some way from pole contention.

The MCL40 is battling Red Bull's RB22 for the third-fastest car, with Max Verstappen fifth and Isack Hadjar eighth. Norris was four tenths slower than polesitter George Russell, underlining the gap McLaren still needs to close.

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"I feel like we've done a good job of extracting everything we can out of the car, and it is not the first time we've got to Q3, and we need that last half-a-tenth or tenth."

"Lando and I have been within half-a-tenth of each other nearly every lap we've done this weekend, so when you've got two drivers that are so close all the time, it is probably a sign that extracting big chunks out of the car is very tough."

Piastri said the result was not a major surprise because McLaren understands where it is lacking overall. He also expected Ferrari to be in contention, while Russell and Verstappen added further pressure in the fight near the front.

"I feel like we've done a better job compared to Barcelona of preparing things and extracting more performance, but we can't magically generate performance out of thin air."