McLaren’s Oscar Piastri believes the order of the standings at this weekend’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix will not absolutely determine who ultimately succeeds in F1’s first season of the new rules era.

McLaren boss Andrea Stella has said bookmakers’ world championship favorites Mercedes and Ferrari are “one step ahead” of his team and Red Bull following pre-season testing in Bahrain.

McLaren is the two-time defending constructors’ champion, while Piastri’s team-mate Lando Norris is the reigning drivers’ champion, having won last year’s season-opening race in Melbourne.

talking Sky Sports F1 Speaking on the eve of the home game at Albert Park, Australia’s Piastri said: “I think we’re in a mixed situation right now.

“We’ll find out soon enough but I don’t think we are where we were 12 months ago when we felt we were the strongest.

“I don’t think the win this season is going to be who’s fastest or who’s the best in the first race.

“There’s going to be a lot of development, a lot of learning, especially for us as drivers, and whoever can master this the fastest over a long season is going to end up coming out on top in the long run.”

Even if McLaren does fall behind the competition this weekend, Piastri is backing them to catch up quickly.

“I think every time the rules reset, you can go a few different paths, and I think we’ve probably seen some teams go a different path,” Piastri said.

“So it’s going to be interesting to see which one ends up being the best. If there’s one thing I know for sure, it’s the capabilities of our team, especially our engineering team.

“We’ve shown over the last two or three years how quickly we can get things back on track and how quickly we can turn things around.

“So I think no matter what rules we face, I think we’ll get there.”

New cars in Melbourne ‘definitely going to be complicated’

The Australian weekend will be the debut of the sport’s all-new 2026 race car and engine, with a nearly 50:50 split between combustion and electric power.

Electric energy will triple by 2025, placing different demands on how drivers collect and deploy it within a single lap, which are expected to vary from track to track during the season.

Albert Park, for example, has less braking zones than Bahrain, and Piastri admitted: “I think Melbourne will be a very unique challenge.

“The different circuits will be more challenging for these cars, particularly in terms of how to manage things like the power unit and battery charging.

“So we’ll see what Melbourne looks like, but it’s definitely going to be complicated in some way.”

Sky Sports F1 Australian Grand Prix Schedule

Thursday, March 5
3am: Drivers press conference
6am: Unmowed paddocks
9.45pm: F3 practice
10.55pm: F2 practice

Friday, March 6
1am: Australian Grand Prix practice one (race starts at 1.30am)*
2.55am: F3 Qualifying*
3.30am: Team owners’ press conference
3.50am: F2 Qualifying*
4.35am: Australian Grand Prix practice two (race starts at 5am)*
6.15am: F1 Show*

Saturday, March 7
0.10am: F3 Sprint*
1.10am: Australian Grand Prix practice three (race starts at 1.30am)*
3.05am: F2 sprint*
4.10am: Australian Grand Prix qualifying preparations*
5am: Australian Grand Prix Qualifying*
7 a.m.: Ted’s Qualification Notebook*
9.45pm: F3 Special Race*

Sunday, March 8
12.20am: F2 Special Competition*
2.30am: Australian Grand Prix preparations: Sunday Grand Prix*
4am: Australian Grand Prix*
6am: Australian Grand Prix reaction: checkered flag*
7 a.m.: Ted’s Notebook*
7.55am: Australian Grand Prix race replay*
10am: Australian Grand Prix highlights (also on Sky One)*

*Also on Sky Sports Main Event

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