McLaren star Oscar Piastri has voiced significant safety apprehensions regarding the upcoming Australian Grand Prix, highlighting potential chaos at the start of the Formula 1 season opener at Albert Park in Melbourne. The 24-year-old Australian driver cautioned that the situation sounds like 'a recipe for disaster' as the sport's new-look 'low downforce' cars, which remain untested in actual race conditions, will be jostling for position from the very beginning.
Testing Insights and Safety Worries
Piastri shared his concerns following a productive but lengthy day behind the wheel of his new McLaren car during pre-season testing in Bahrain. He completed an impressive 161 laps on Friday, securing the fourth quickest time in the standings, trailing behind a Mercedes one-two finish led by Kimi Antonelli. The driver emphasized that these issues must be addressed before the Melbourne event in three weeks, which marks the first race of the 2026 season under completely revised F1 cars, rules, and regulations.
Critical Areas Needing Attention
'Starts need to be addressed, because, probably as we've all seen, it's a pretty complicated process now to have a safe start, let alone a competitive one,' Piastri stated after the final session of the official pre-season testing at the Sakhir circuit. He elaborated on multiple topics requiring discussion, including overtaking dynamics and whether teams should use straight mode at the start. 'I think a pack of 22 cars with a couple hundred points less downforce sounds like a recipe for disaster to me, so there's a few of those aspects that need to be spoken about.'
The McLaren ace pointed out that every team will have different requirements for the start, and admitted uncertainty among drivers. 'The thing is, everyone's going to need different things for the start, and to be completely honest with you, I'm not sure any of us know exactly what we need yet. There's so many things just from an even borderline safety point of view that need to be kind of figured out on track, that do need addressing.'
Practice Start Chaos and Miscommunication
Piastri made these remarks to reporters after drivers participated in a practice start that turned into a fairly chaotic exercise. However, he clarified that this was not linked to the new power units but resulted from a miscommunication. The Australian failed to get away in his McLaren during the practice, explaining: 'I got told to wait until whoever was in front of me had gone and then do my own launch, and not do it to the lights. Clearly, some other people had a different idea. So that was nothing to do with the power units.'
Team Performance and Competitive Landscape
Regarding team performances over the testing week, Piastri noted that McLaren, Mercedes, Red Bull, and Ferrari all appeared as the usual powerhouse contenders. When asked about the pecking order, he shrugged and said: 'Where we are in the pecking order, I don't know. It kind of looks like the top-four teams are still the top-four teams, but I don't know where exactly we sit in that at the moment.'
Mercedes driver George Russell, who was second quickest on Friday ahead of Ferrari's third fastest Lewis Hamilton, maintained that Red Bull held a 'pretty scary' advantage over the competition, despite Max Verstappen finishing fifth on the timesheets. In response, Red Bull assessed that Mercedes looked impressive, signaling the onset of pre-Melbourne mind games as teams gear up for the competitive season ahead.
Piastri's warnings underscore the heightened safety challenges posed by the new regulatory changes in Formula 1, with the Australian Grand Prix serving as a critical test for the sport's adaptability and risk management strategies.
