Oscar Piastri challenges Ferrari’s reputation as McLaren claims surprise 2026 advantage in Canada. Oscar Piastri has challenged Ferrari’s reputation for the best race starts in F1 2026.

Ferrari has earned a reputation throughout the 2026 Formula 1 season for explosive race starts, but Oscar Piastri believes that narrative does not fully reflect reality. The McLaren driver suggested that the Woking-based team has actually held the upper hand over Ferrari in one of the Scuderia’s most talked-about strengths this year: launching off the line.

From the opening days of pre-season testing, Ferrari attracted attention for what appeared to be an innovative solution to one of the major challenges created by the new power unit regulations. As teams adjusted to the latest engine architecture, launching efficiently from a standing start became a more delicate technical exercise across the grid.

Ferrari’s engineering group was widely credited with developing a more responsive turbo configuration within its 2026 power unit package, a concept believed to improve spool-up characteristics and deliver sharper getaway performance when the lights go out.

That apparent advantage was immediately visible during the opening rounds of the championship. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton repeatedly produced aggressive starts, often gaining positions in the critical opening metres and reinforcing the perception that Ferrari had discovered a genuine competitive weapon.

However, Oscar Piastri sees the competitive picture differently.

Oscar Piastri disputes Ferrari’s race start reputation

Following Sprint qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix, Oscar Piastri was asked whether his main concern for the Sprint race would be attacking the Mercedes cars ahead or defending from the Ferraris behind, especially given Ferrari’s reputation for strong launches this season.

The Australian dismissed the suggestion that Ferrari currently holds the benchmark in that area. Oscar Piastri indicated that McLaren’s starts have actually been stronger than Ferrari’s throughout the 2026 campaign, adding that the team remains highly confident in its launch performance. He also suggested that Mercedes would likely solve its own launch issues eventually, but until then, McLaren intends to capitalise on that advantage.

The comment is particularly interesting because Mercedes remains one of the more surprising underperformers in this specific area, despite supplying the same power unit architecture to McLaren.

The Brackley team has openly acknowledged launch performance as a weakness and introduced targeted upgrades for the Canadian Grand Prix, including revised electronics and software systems specifically aimed at improving getaway consistency.

Mercedes pace worries McLaren more than Ferrari

While Oscar Piastri appeared relaxed about Ferrari’s threat at the start, he was far less comfortable about Mercedes’ overall pace in Montreal.

The Australian will line up alongside teammate Lando Norris on the second row for the Sprint after qualifying fourth, less than two hundredths of a second behind the reigning world champion. On paper, that represents another solid McLaren result.

But the bigger concern lies further ahead. Mercedes’ front-row lockout suggested that the extensive upgrade work completed during the recent break has delivered exactly the step forward the team had hoped for. The performance gap of roughly three tenths over McLaren in Sprint qualifying underlined just how effective the W17 package appears to be.

Oscar Piastri admitted that, despite the generally positive balance of the MCL40, Mercedes remains the standout concern heading into the rest of the weekend.

He suggested that the day had felt somewhat chaotic for everyone, but acknowledged that Mercedes looked extremely strong, describing that as the clearest takeaway from Friday’s running. At the same time, he stressed that McLaren would now focus on extracting more performance from the car and refining its setup in an attempt to close the gap.

For Ferrari, the remarks add an intriguing subplot to the Canadian Grand Prix weekend. While Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton may still believe the Scuderia holds one of the strongest launch packages on the grid, at least one rival appears convinced that McLaren has already surpassed them in that department.