- Oscar Piastri calls F1’s 2026 overhaul a step forward, not a solution.
- Four regulatory fixes target closing speeds, qualifying quirks and grid start failures.
- Drivers and the FIA are working closer than ever, but Miami is just the beginning.
Oscar Piastri has welcomed Formula 1’s latest regulatory adjustments ahead of the Miami Grand Prix.
However, he says further changes will likely be needed as the sport continues to iron out problems thrown up by its new technical rules.
The McLaren driver made his comments on the High Performance podcast recorded at the McLaren Technology Centre.
He was speaking before the Miami GP, scheduled for May 1 to 3. It will be the first race held under the revised regulations.
The changes were agreed during an online meeting between the FIA, team principals, power unit manufacturer CEOs and Formula One Management, following several weeks of consultation that included direct input from drivers.
The problems that forced action
The 2026 season opened with a series of incidents that put pressure on F1’s governing body to act quickly.
Oliver Bearman crashed heavily at the Japanese Grand Prix. Investigators identified the closing speed gap between cars deploying electrical energy and those harvesting it as a contributing factor.
The opening rounds also produced alarming scenes of cars nearly stalling on the grid at race starts.
Four-time world champion Max Verstappen publicly criticised the quality of racing under the new rules. He even suggested he was questioning his long-term future in the sport.
Piastri’s own season began badly. He failed to start in Australia after crashing on reconnaissance laps. He then suffered electrical failures alongside teammate Lando Norris in China.
His 2026 campaign effectively started in Japan, where he finished second behind Kimi Antonelli.
What the tweaks actually change
The regulatory package covers four specific areas. Super clipping, which allows drivers to recover energy while staying at full throttle, has been raised from 250 kilowatts to the maximum of 350 kilowatts.
In qualifying, the harvesting limit has been cut from 8 megajoules to 7 megajoules per lap.
During races, the full 350 kilowatts of electrical deployment remain available in designated acceleration zones. In other sections of the track, deployment is capped at 250 kilowatts.
This is a direct response to the dangerous closing speeds seen earlier this season.
A “low power start detection” system will also be trialled in Miami. It is designed to prevent cars from bogging down on the grid at the start of a race.
To give teams time to adapt, the FIA has extended Miami’s sole free practice session from 60 to 90 minutes, accounting for both the rule changes and the five-week break since Japan.
Piastri’s cautious optimism
Oscar Piastri acknowledged that the changes are pointing in the right direction. However, he stopped well short of declaring the problems solved.
“It’s hard to say now [if the changes will be enough],” he said on the podcast. “I think there’s definitely some rule changes that are definitely a step in the right direction.”
He was candid about the complexity of the new rules, admitting he had not yet worked through all the details himself.
“There’s a lot of rules I still need to actually look through and see what specifically changes,” he said. “So it’s still complex, and with the engines we’ve got, there’s always going to be a compromise somewhere.”
Speaking separately to GPblog, Piastri noted that the changes to the boost button and the revised harvest limits should improve things, even if some quirks remain.
He also pointed out that different circuits produce different problems, with China throwing up fewer issues than Australia and Japan.
The collaboration that stood out
More than any technical detail, Piastri highlighted the process that produced the changes as something genuinely new.
“For me, the biggest thing has been the coordination and collaboration between the drivers, teams, F1 and the FIA,” he said on the podcast.
He noted that even experienced paddock figures found the working relationship refreshing.
“It’s been actually quite refreshing, for especially some of the older guys, to see the collaboration, but time will tell,” he said.
Others in the paddock shared that view.
FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem praised the “constructive and collaborative” work completed in a short timeframe and noted that drivers had been central to the discussions.
Norris said drivers had worked “closer than ever before” with the FIA on the Miami tweaks.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff also praised the constructive nature of the talks, saying all parties shared the same goals around safety and the quality of racing.
More changes still to come
Piastri was direct about what Miami will and will not resolve.
“I think there probably will need to be some further tweaks,” he said. “How easy they are to implement this year, we don’t know.”
He expects more adjustments in future seasons as well.
“I’m sure there’ll be some changes, probably next year or in the future, but it’s definitely going in the right direction. So, hopefully we see that on show in Miami,” he said.
FIA single-seater director Nikolas Tombazis described the approach as gradual rather than sweeping. He compares the situation to a patient who needs exercise and vitamins rather than intensive care.
Miami is already being discussed in parts of the paddock as the start of what amounts to a new championship, with teams expected to arrive with significant upgrade packages after five weeks away from the track.
For Piastri, the race offers a chance to build on his Suzuka result with a car that should, under the new rules, behave more consistently.
Whether the tweaks go far enough will become clear when the lights go out on Sunday.
