“Never seen a race start delayed by a bug”: Oscar Piastri reacts to a chaotic F1 Bahrain GP
Oscar Piastri was surprised by the software bug that caused chaos at the start of the 2026 Bahrain GP. Speaking to on-site media including VisionF1, the McLaren driver felt it took a lot to finish in the same position he started from.
Starting sixth on the grid, Piastri took a gamble, like many other drivers, by starting on slick tyres. He started on the medium tyres and switched to intermediates after completing two formation laps. When the race eventually got underway, his McLaren teammate, who had started ahead of him, did not switch tyres. However, over the course of the 55-lap race, the Australian made three pit stops before returning to the medium tyres towards the end.
Describing his race, Piastri joked about his journey from sixth on the grid to sixth across the finish line. He felt that having the race start affected by a software bug was a first for him. The McLaren driver admitted that his gamble on slick tyres in wet conditions proved to be the wrong call, while switching to intermediates ultimately proved to be the right decision. The Melbourne born driver also believes the safety car neutralised the field. While he was able to catch Charles Leclerc towards the end of the race, he felt McLaren lacked the outright pace to challenge the Ferrari.
Asked by VisionF1 to describe his race and the incidents that unfolded, Oscar Piastri said:
“It was a hell of a lot to finish in the same place I started. That’s for sure. Yeah, had a bit of everything. So, I’ve never seen an F1 race delayed by a bug. That was a new one. So, yeah, it was very, very tricky out there. Obviously, the wet conditions were tough. We took a bit of a gamble on the slick [tires] and I knew coming out of the pits, it wasn’t the right call.”
“So I boxed and I think the safety car coming out kind of neutralised everyone. So it didn’t cost us too much. We just ultimately weren’t that competitive. You know, it was a shame for the last safety car because I was catching Leclerc very quickly. So I think I could have got him. But yeah, we just didn’t quite have the pace today to do that much.”
Oscar Piastri believes that driving the McLaren requires confidence
Oscar Piastri believes that driving the current McLaren car requires a lot of confidence, which the mixed track conditions made difficult to maintain. He admitted that he struggled during the opening stint on slick tyres on the wet tarmac and felt the tricky weather conditions exposed the weaknesses of the car. The multiple Grand Prix winner felt that the car’s performance improved once he switched to the hard tyres. He believes the McLaren has a very narrow performance window, making it difficult to extract its maximum potential.
Describing the tire stints and pace to catch the cars ahead, Oscar Piastri said:
“So the first stint I was struggling a lot. I think in those very tricky conditions. One, it was very hard to see actually if the track was dry or not. And I think just with how you have to drive our car, you need to have a lot of confidence and in those kind of conditions, having confidence is almost impossible. So I think that exposed a bit of our struggle, definitely for me anyway. But I think once I put the next set of hards [tires] on, we seemed pretty good. So that’s definitely the biggest learning, but at the moment we’re too up and down. And to the window we have is too small to be able to be quick.”
Oscar Piastri finished sixth in the Bahrain GP in Sepang, ahead of his teammate Lando Norris, who finished ninth. Unlike the Australian, the Briton gambled on dry-weather tyres in a race featuring wet and damp conditions. He was one of the few drivers not to use the intermediate tyres at any point during the race. Piastri is currently seventh in the drivers’ championship with 128 points and is still searching for his first victory of the 2026 season. The Australian had already secured seven race wins by this stage of the 2025 season, highlighting the contrast between his championship-winning campaign and his current season. McLaren are currently third in the constructors’ championship with 316 points and remain locked in a battle with Ferrari and Red Bull for second place in the standings.
