McLaren team principal Andrea Stella linked Oscar Piastri's two-tenths deficit to Lando Norris in Belgian Grand Prix qualifying to power unit algorithms rather than driving differences. Similar issues appeared between Mercedes teammates George Russell and Kimi Antonelli at Spa-Francorchamps.
Stella said the deficit occurred mainly on the straight between Stavelot and the Bus Stop Chicane during the derating phase. He noted that minor variations in how the power unit operated explained the gap, with Piastri losing time in the final straight and at Blanchimont.
The McLaren boss drew parallels to the Mercedes cars, where Antonelli took pole ahead of Russell. Stella stated that overlays of the laps showed comparable patterns between the two teams.
Russell confirmed after qualifying that his focus for the prior 36 hours had been on straight-line speed due to the power unit issues. Stella added that Piastri could have been one to two tenths quicker if the power unit had performed as expected.
Piastri missed track time on Friday with a hydraulic leak, which may have affected the software's learning process for energy deployment under the 2026 regulations.
