Piastri hopes McLaren's Hungarian GP upgrades can move team closer to the front

Oscar Piastri is hopeful McLaren's latest upgrade package will allow the team to take a step forward at this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix, as the Australian looks to improve on what he describes as a mixed and often frustrating first half of the 2026 Formula 1 season.

McLaren arrives at the Hungaroring having won the previous two Hungarian Grands Prix, but after a difficult campaign under Formula 1's new regulations, Piastri believes the team's latest developments could help close the gap to its rivals.

"We'll find out tomorrow," Piastri said when asked whether McLaren could complete a hat-trick of victories in Budapest.

"I think we should be a bit more competitive. We've got a few upgrades this weekend, so hopefully that puts us a bit closer to being able to fight."

The Australian also took encouragement from McLaren's performance at Spa-Francorchamps, where the team exceeded its own expectations during the race.

"I think in Spa, certainly in the race, we were probably a bit more competitive than we expected, so that was a good thing."

Although Piastri admitted he could not recall using the latest package in the simulator, he was clear about what ultimately matters.

"I actually can't remember if I used them on the simulator, so I don't know," he laughed. "It should be faster. That's all I care about."

He also expressed confidence in McLaren's recent development record.

"I feel like we've got a pretty good track record with upgrades, for the most part, and how they perform in the sim versus reality, so fingers crossed it just makes us quicker."

Reflecting on the characteristics of the MCL40, Piastri explained that it has never been an easy car to drive this season, although the challenges have evolved over the course of the year.

"Not necessarily, no," he replied when asked whether the car has become more difficult to handle," he continued. "It's been tricky to drive the whole year."

Piastri explained that earlier in the season many of the team's difficulties revolved around power unit management, something drivers could partially influence through their driving.

"I think maybe at the start of the season we had more to worry about on the power unit side of things, in terms of stuff we could actually control and manage ourselves, and things I could do with my driving style."

However, he said the recent challenges have become more focused on the car itself rather than the power unit.

"Whereas now, there are still things we need to be careful of with the power unit, but it's not really in our control as much anymore."

"It's more purely about what the car is like, what the balance is like, and I think especially the last couple of weekends it's definitely been a step harder to drive, for whatever reason, whether it's just the layout, wind or type of tarmac."

McLaren has yet to identify exactly why the car has become more difficult to extract performance from. Looking back on the first half of the campaign, Piastri admitted it has not lived up to either his or the team's expectations.

"We don't really know, but hopefully this weekend that becomes a bit easier. There have been highs and lows, for sure. Probably more lows than highs, unfortunately."

The Australian acknowledged that McLaren has been unable to replicate the level of competitiveness it enjoyed in 2025.

"For us as a team, it's obviously not been the first half of the year that we would have liked, especially compared to last year, so hopefully the second half of the year can be better."

Piastri was equally honest in assessing his own performances: "For myself as well, there have been some good moments, some not-so-good moments and pretty much everything in between."

With the second half of the season beginning after the summer break, the Australian says his priority is to find greater consistency.

"I want to be able to improve and be a bit more consistently on top of my game, and hopefully we can do that this weekend and in the second half of the year."