A fast start, then a familiar fade

Oscar Piastri has picked up on a pattern in Mercedes’ 2026 form that looks useful for everyone else on the grid, except Mercedes. At each of the season’s four starts so far, including the Chinese Grand Prix Sprint, the team has locked out the front row and then lost ground once the racing began.

The sequence has been repeated often enough to stop looking accidental. In Australia, Charles Leclerc jumped ahead. In both China races, Lewis Hamilton did the same. At Suzuka, Piastri himself moved past Kimi Antonelli and George Russell to take the lead. In every case, Mercedes still had the stronger race pace in its W17, which carried it to victory in the grands prix and the Sprint. Antonelli’s win in Japan was helped by a perfectly timed safety car, arriving just after Piastri and Russell had already pitted. Race strategy, naturally, also enjoyed a starring role.

“There is nothing magical about anything”

Piastri is not pretending Mercedes has been lucky or simply stumbling into results. He is just not buying the idea that there is some hidden trick at work.

“There is nothing magical about anything; they just have more downforce, are using the power unit better than us at the moment, and it is as simple as that,”

Piastri told media, including RacingNews365.

He added that the real value for McLaren is in the data, because the deficit is not concentrated in one obvious area.

“There is no magic, and even when you’re sitting in the race car, [the Mercedes] disappears pretty quickly, but the most helpful tool is definitely looking at the data, and we are losing a bit everywhere.

“There is not really one area where we’re weak or where we are strong; it is just across the board, so I think finding more downforce is the main opportunity.”

That is the blunt version of the problem. Mercedes is ahead, and not by accident, but the gap is being created by a collection of smaller advantages rather than a single dramatic flaw elsewhere. Formula 1 does love a complicated answer to what often looks like a simple one.

Ferrari adds another useful clue

Piastri also pointed to Ferrari as another team worth watching, because the picture there is less straightforward.

“The Ferrari is interesting as well because it almost looks like they are better in the corners, but may be worse on the power unit or with drag, but China was interesting in the way they’ve been able to battle Mercedes.

“They’ve got a clear advantage on everybody, but the way that Ferrari was able to battle and contend with them at the start of races, especially, is quite interesting to see, so there is inspiration in more than just one place.”

For McLaren, that matters. If Mercedes is showing one clear strength and Ferrari is offering a different kind of benchmark, then the path forward is not just about copying one rival. It is about gathering clues from both and building a car that does not need a rescue mission after the lights go out.

For now, Mercedes remains the team to beat. But if its starts keep looking shaky while everyone else is taking notes, the rest of the field may decide there is more than one way to make life difficult for the front row.