McLaren driver Oscar Piastri feels he is “definitely” starting to return to a level that he finds acceptable, after admitting that what he once relied on no longer works in 2026.

The Australian found himself fighting for the Formula 1 title for the first time last year, after McLaren produced the best car at the start of the final season of the ground-effect era. But F1’s 2026 regulations turned the tables for Piastri, and woe after woe has ensued this term.

Ahead of the United States Grand Prix in round 18/23, Piastri ranks just seventh in the 2026 drivers’ standings with only 138 points to his name. The 25-year-old has also only made two podiums so far this year, which he took in rounds three in Japan (P2) and four in Miami (P3).

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Oscar Piastri explains the ‘mental challenge’ of accepting his strengths are now his flaws

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has regularly highlighted Piastri’s difficulties adapting to F1’s 2026 regulations. The 2026 aero and chassis rules, along with the different demands with the new engines, took McLaren’s car away from how Piastri likes to drive, as he largely struggles whenever the rear end slides on corner entry as he likes to have a stable platform.

But while Piastri admits that his “downfall” in 2026 has been because he cannot rely on his old strengths to make the MCL40 tick, the Melbourne native believes he has started to turn a corner. Piastri feels he has begun to find a way to make things click, having also overcome the “mental challenge” of accepting that what were his strengths are now his weaknesses.

“It certainly was hard to find for a while, but I feel like the last triple header was definitely more back to where I wanted to be,” Piastri said, via quotes by RacingNews365. “Definitely not at the level I want to aspire to be at, but back in the ballpark that I should be in.

“It’s been no secret that this year has been challenging in terms of getting a grip on this year’s car. I feel like over the last few weeks, it’s started to click a little bit more. It’s still very challenging, but we’re finding a way.”

Piastri continued: “There’s been a lot of hard work in terms of how I adapt myself to the car, because the things that were often working so well for me at points last year are the things that are my downfall in a lot of weekends this year.

“When you can’t rely on the things that you normally want to rely on, it is always challenging, both in terms of actually adapting. But also when you’ve been used to something working for you for a long time, trying to go away from that, there’s a mental challenge to that as well.”

While Piastri feels the recent triple header in Baku, Sepang and Marina Bay suggested that he is starting to find his way with F1’s 2026 regulations, the results were still not there. The potential for a big result was on the cards during the Azerbaijan GP, but Piastri finished P13 in Baku after a costly lock-up at Turn 1 while running in third place dropped him to P15.

Strategic blunders then proved costly at Sepang, as Piastri finished the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia in P6 after pitting at the end of the first racing lap to switch from slick tyres onto a set of intermediates. And, last time out, a slow puncture forced Piastri to make an extra pit stop during the Singapore Grand Prix that actually helped him to finish in P5 in the end.

The next triple header will also prove whether or not Piastri is finding his feet with the 2026 regulations. While this weekend’s United States GP might not be that much of a barometer of success, next week’s Mexico City GP will after Piastri struggled massively on the low-grip Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez last season despite his normal joy in the ground-effect car.