Piastri slams F1’s reliance on computers

Power deployment was a major talking point throughout the Belgian Grand Prix weekend, with Spa-Francorchamps placing particularly heavy demands on the cars' energy management due to its long straights and high-speed layout.

George Russell was among those to encounter problems, claiming his Mercedes was almost immediately stripped of its available battery energy at the start of the race. The Briton subsequently blamed the team's energy management for the opening-lap incident that ended his race.

Piastri also experienced frustrations with the new power unit regulations. The McLaren driver qualified seventh, four places behind teammate Lando Norris, and was unable to match the Briton's straight-line performance despite making changes in an attempt to address the issue.

Reflecting on the extent to which the electrical side of the new engines can influence the competitive order, Piastri did not hold back.

“It sucks. I can’t really say it any other way than that,” Piastri said about how much the electrical part of the new engines dictate results this season.

“When you’ve got qualifying grids decided by computers behaving or misbehaving, it’s a pretty c--p way of going racing,” the McLaren driver added.