Lando Norris won the São Paulo Grand Prix at Interlagos on 8 November. His McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri recovered from a Q2 exit to finish sixth, 56 seconds behind him. Asked afterwards whether being out of the title race had taken something from him, Piastri did not duck the question.

“Yes and no. I want to be in a championship fight every year if I can be, but also, it’s definitely a bit more relaxed this year,” he told Motorsport.com.

For the Australian, that relaxation is not the feeling he actually wants. The stress of a championship fight, he explained to the outlet, is the feeling a driver chases, because it means fighting for the goal itself, and that is what he is missing this year.

McLaren chasing Red Bull for third

The context behind the admission is a steep fall. Piastri sits seventh in the drivers’ standings on 152 points, 94 behind Norris, who is still fighting at the sharp end of the title race. Mercedes clinched the constructors’ championship at Interlagos, with McLaren fourth, 17 points behind Red Bull.

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Piastri told Motorsport.com the new-generation car has been hard work from the start of the year and has only slowly come around, with the team still trying to get on top of what needs to change.

Management split as the season closes

The remarks came days after another chapter closed. On Monday 9 November, Piastri and Mark Webber confirmed they had mutually agreed to end the management partnership that had steered Piastri’s career since 2019. Webber had placed Piastri at McLaren in 2023 after the Alpine contract dispute and travelled with him through the breakthrough seasons that followed.

In an official statement issued through Formula 1, Webber and his wife Ann cited their reduced trackside involvement during 2026 as the backdrop to the decision. Piastri has spent the back half of the year working with former Formula 2 race engineer Pedro Matos and mental coach Emma Murray at the circuits.

For the final three rounds, Piastri’s target is narrow and stated out loud: keep learning and try to beat Red Bull for third in the constructors’ championship, a task he described to Motorsport.com as not easy, but possible.

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