皮亚斯特里谈迈凯伦赛车困境与改进方向
皮亚斯特里表示，尽管2026年车手冠军已与他无关，但赛季最后几站仍有不少可争取之处，重点是提升自己在历史表现不佳赛道的发挥，并理解MCL40最新升级的效果。
“前进两步，后退一步”——奥斯卡·皮亚斯特里解释迈凯伦赛车困境的出路
在墨西哥城——上赛季他最令人沮丧的比赛周末之一的发生地——奥斯卡·皮亚斯特里表示，这里以及接下来的比赛是他为明年发展“一个重要阶段”
就2026年车手冠军而言，奥斯卡·皮亚斯特里已无利害关系，但他认为赛季最后几站仍有不少可争取之处。
最重要的优先事项之一，是努力提升自己在历史上表现不佳赛道的发挥；另一项是理解最新一套升级应用到他的MCL40上产生的效果，并努力确保明年的赛车不会如此难以驾驭。
迈凯伦正在分阶段应用本赛季的最终升级套件，在上周末的美国大奖赛中安装了新的前悬挂几何结构以及后扩散器的调整，更多部件将在能够尽快运送后到位。然而，尽管这些改动旨在提升赛车的性能上限，迈凯伦尚未完全衡量情况是否如此——而MCL40需要像每一圈都是排位赛那样驾驶的根本问题依然存在。
“确实，我现在驾驶的方式必须与[之前]有很大不同，”他在墨西哥城对包括Motorsport.com在内的媒体表示。
“这肯定是一个巨大的挑战。我认为我们会找到办法的。
“我们必须在接下来几个月里找到办法。希望不是几年，但显然这些赛车有一些根本性的方面是不会改变的。”
"这一过程充满挑战，但也出现了积极迹象。奥斯汀站确实算是一次退步，但有时候你需要前进两步、后退一步，才能站稳脚跟并进行尝试。所以，是的，我认为奥斯汀站之前的三连赛是朝着正确方向迈出的非常好的一步，但在此基础上仍有提升空间。"
"我们还有一些新的部件即将到来，但我认为我们俩[他和兰多·诺里斯]目前都在与一辆对许多因素都非常敏感的赛车作斗争，不仅仅是颠簸。驾驶它的方式相当特殊，窗口也很窄。所以自然地，当你有更多超出这个范围的因素让情况变得棘手时，比如颠簸或大风天气之类的情况，那只会增加挑战。"
"赛车现在比奥斯汀站之前更快了，但显然我们的竞争对手也非常快，所以我们知道我们仍有差距需要弥补。"
迈凯伦仍在努力理解其最新升级的性能，其中包括新的前悬挂几何结构。
去年，皮亚斯特里对总冠军的挑战在最后几站比赛中瓦解，那些赛道表面抓地力较低，往往更有利于队友兰多·诺里斯适应性更强的驾驶风格——而皮亚斯特里则倾向于需要一圈接一圈地建立节奏，并需要赛车传递更一致的信息。尽管迈凯伦的MCL40今年在空气动力学效率和慢弯表现方面起步时落后于梅赛德斯和迈凯伦的主要竞争对手，但空气动力学升级使其进入了一个窗口期，在赛季中期它可以说是快弯中最好的赛车。
但它在慢弯中的表现以及整体的难以驾驭感，仍然是难以消除的痛点。两位车手都将这辆车定义为必须激进驾驶才能榨取性能的赛车，尽管它有一种令人不安的习惯，会不可预测地反咬一口。
当被Motorsport.com问及这辆车的敏感性是源于梅赛德斯动力单元的特性、悬挂几何等设计选择和气动概念，还是新规则要求赛车更窄、下压力更低的后果时，皮亚斯特里表示：“我认为这是很多因素的综合结果。”
“更低的下压力肯定没有帮助。我认为轮胎也是。”
你知道，今年我们看了很多场比赛，软胎的表现一直非常出色，甚至在正赛中也一样。总的来说，与过去几年相比，今年的比赛在驾驶风格上更接近排位赛的节奏，这一点是肯定的。所有迹象都表明，必须更激进地驾驶赛车。
要把握好这条界线非常非常困难。如果这是迈凯伦特有的问题，我们大概明年就能弄清楚。但我认为这其中有很多不同的因素在起作用。
这些轮胎是在去年的赛车上开发的，做了一些妥协——我觉得明年的轮胎会有所不同，或者说，他们肯定在更有代表性的赛车上做了更多测试。所以让我们看看它们是否会改变。但我认为这来自几个不同的方面，这些因素叠加在一起。
去年在墨西哥城，皮亚斯特里从第八位发车，最终获得第五名，将世界冠军领先位置让给了迈凯伦队友兰多·诺里斯
尽管皮亚斯特里早已退出车手总冠军争夺，诺里斯也在上周末失去了争冠希望，但迈凯伦仍需为保住财务上收益丰厚的车队积分榜第三名而战。目前迈凯伦与红牛同积355分，但由于红牛赢下了更多分站赛（计入新加坡冲刺赛），迈凯伦暂列车队积分榜第四。
除此之外，在最后几轮比赛中理解最新升级套件，应有助于迈凯伦完善其2027款赛车——自这套升级套件于初秋获批投产以来，2027款赛车一直是车队全部注意力的焦点。
“显然，我们想努力在车队总冠军争夺中保持在红牛之前，”皮亚斯特里说。
“但除此之外，一切都是为了明年的学习，希望我们能推出一辆有能力再次争夺总冠军的赛车，我希望能够带着尽可能多的答案、尽可能多的武器进入明年。”
“所以这算是我的一大动力，因为就我个人而言，目前没有太多可争取的东西——但就未来的成绩而言，这是一个重要时期。”
英文原文
"Two steps forward, one step back" – Oscar Piastri explains the route out of McLaren's car woes
In Mexico City, scene of one of his most frustrating weekends last season, Oscar Piastri says this and the coming races are "an important period" in his development for next year
Oscar Piastri has no skin in the game so far as the 2026 drivers' championship is concerned, but he reckons there is still plenty to fight for in the final rounds of the season.
One of the biggest priorities is to work on improving his performances at circuits where he has struggled historically; another is to understand the effects of the latest set of upgrades applied to his MCL40 and work towards making sure next year's car isn't as edgy to drive.
McLaren is applying its final update package of the season in stages, fitting a new front suspension geometry along with rear diffuser tweaks in the United States GP last weekend, with further elements coming as soon as they can be shipped. But while these changes are intended to raise the performance ceiling of the car, McLaren is yet to fully measure whether this is the case – and the fundamental issue of the MCL40 needing to be driven as if every lap is a qualifying lap remains.
"Definitely I do have to drive a lot differently now than what I've had to [previously]," he told media including Motorsport.com in Mexico City.
"It's been a big challenge, for sure. I think we will find a way.
"We have to find a way in the next few months. Hopefully it's not years, but obviously there's fundamental aspects of these cars that aren't going to change.
"It's been a challenging process to get through and there's been positive signs. Austin was definitely a bit of a step back, but at the moment sometimes you need to take two steps forward and one step back to find your feet and experiment with things. So, yeah, I think the triple header before Austin was a very good step in the right direction, but there's still room to go on top of that.
"We've got some more bits and pieces coming, but I think both of us [he and Lando Norris] at the moment are struggling with a car that's just very sensitive to a lot of things, not just bumps. The way you have to drive it, it's quite specific, and quite a narrow window. So naturally when you've got more things outside of that that make it tricky, like bumps or windy conditions, stuff like that, then it only adds to the challenge.
"The car is faster now than it was before Austin, but obviously our competitors are very quick as well, so we know we've still got ground to make up."
McLaren is still trying to understand the performance of its latest update, which included a new front suspension geometry
Last year Piastri's championship challenge came unpicked during the final run of races on tracks with low-grip surfaces which tended to reward team-mate Lando Norris' more adaptable driving style – whereas Piastri tends to require a rhythm to build from lap to lap, with more consistent messages from the car. While McLaren's MCL40 started this year behind key competitors from Mercedes and McLaren in terms of downforce efficiency and slow-corner performance, aerodynamic upgrades put it in a window where it was arguably the best car through fast corners in the middle of the season.
But its performance in slow corners and an overall edginess have remained works spots that have been difficult to purge. Both drivers have defined the car as one that has to be driven aggressively to extract performance, though it has a disconcerting habit of biting back unpredictably.
"I think it's a combination of a lot of things," said Piastri when asked by Motorsport.com whether the car's sensitivity arises from the Mercedes power unit characteristics, design choices such as suspension geometry and the aerodynamic concept, or whether it is a consequence of the new rules mandating narrower cars with less downforce.
"The lower downforce definitely doesn't help. I think tyres as well.
You know, we've seen a lot of races this year where the soft tyres have been very good, even in the race. Just in general, the races have been much closer towards a qualifying driving style than we've had in the last few years, for sure. Everything is pointing towards having to drive the cars more aggressively.
"Trying to tread that line is very, very difficult. If it's a McLaren-specific thing, we'll find out next year, probably. But I think there's a lot of different factors that go into it.
"Tyres that were developed on last year's cars with compromises made – I think next year's tyres will be a little bit different, let's say, or they've certainly done a lot more testing on representative cars. So let's see if they change. But I think it comes from a few different areas and that all adds up."
In Mexico City last year Piastri finished fifth from eighth on the grid, losing the world championship lead to McLaren team-mate Lando Norris
While Piastri has long since been eliminated from the drivers' championship race, and Norris fell out of contention last weekend, McLaren has a fight on its hands to retain third place in the financially lucrative constructors' standings. It is currently equal on 355 points with Red Bull, but is ranked fourth on account of Red Bull having won more races, taking into account the Singapore sprint event.
Alongside this, understanding the latest upgrade package over final rounds should help McLaren finesse its 2027 car, which has been the full focus of attention since this upgrade package was signed off to production in early autumn.
"Obviously we want to try and stay ahead of Red Bull in the constructors' championship," said Piastri.
"But on top of that, everything is learning for next year, and hopefully we can come out with a car that's capable of fighting for a championship again, and I want to be able to go into next year with as many answers as I can, as many tools in my arsenal as I can.
"So that's kind of my big motivation, because for me personally there's not a huge amount to fight for at the moment – but in the context of future results, it's an important period."
Motorsport.com ·
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