Piastri says F1 needs 50kg cut to fix heavy cars

Oscar Piastri has reignited Formula 1’s car-weight debate in Miami, saying the current generation remains too heavy and that the sport would need to cut more than 50kg to make a meaningful difference.

Speaking in the pre-Miami Grand Prix press conference, the McLaren driver said that even with the 2026 cars set to be 30kg lighter than the 2025 generation, the minimum weight still stands at 768kg. That leaves them 77kg heavier than the 689kg minimum of the first hybrid-era cars introduced in 2014, a gap that continues to shape how the cars behave.

Piastri linked that extra mass to the handling complaints many drivers have, particularly in slow corners. Asked what sort of reduction would actually be felt from the cockpit, he said: “Realistically to make a big difference, the number needs to be probably 50+, the cars are still pretty heavy. If we could get it back into a figure starting with six, in the 600s somewhere, that would be good.”

He also made clear there is a limit to how far Formula 1 can realistically go under its current technical direction. “We’re never going to get back to 500s high-500s,” Piastri said. “The only way you can get there is by taking out the battery and making the engines more simple.”

That tension sits at the center of the debate. Piastri is arguing for lighter, more agile cars, but he also accepts that modern hybrid power units make any dramatic reduction difficult without a broader change in philosophy.

He stopped short of saying weight alone defines a good Formula 1 car. Piastri said the 2025 cars in high-speed corners “were probably some of the best we’ve ever had,” before adding of his own McLaren, “Granted, I know mine was probably the best of the lot.”

Even so, he believes there is still room for realistic savings if the sport is willing to simplify its engine package. “But if we had a simpler engine, then you could easily take out quite a bit of weight,” he said, while warning that the bigger question is whether such a move “is actually beneficial for the sport.”