Oscar Piastri denied that a change in rear wing design represented the “biggest problem” behind McLaren’s wet problems at Formula 1the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

McLaren established itself as the benchmark team in a dry sprint race in Brazil as pole sitter Piastri acceded to a call to cede the lead to teammate Lando Norris, who led a 1-2.

But while Norris took pole in the wet on Sunday morning, McLaren‘s pace was not as competitive in the main race as he came back in sixth place, with Piastri eighth.

The Briton’s numerous mistakes contributed to his difficult situation in the standings, which began when he lost his start advantage to Mercedes’ George Russell.

Norris was unable to regain the position during the first stint, while Piastri stuck behind Liam Lawson led to a collision at Turn 1 which saw him penalized 10 seconds.

Norris and Piastri endured further frustration in the final stages at Interlagos, with neither driver managing to make a good impression on the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.

However, Piastri dismissed McLaren’s straight-line speed deficit compared to rival teams as a primary reason behind their difficulty making progress in the race.

“Yes, the top speed didn’t seem great, but I don’t think that’s our biggest problem,” Piastri told media outlets including Motorsport Week.

“We obviously gained in the corners with the downforce we had but really not enough.

“So I think we need to understand a little bit better, because in the first half of the race we looked very fast and in the second half of the race both cars seemed to be struggling a lot more.”

The choice of the McLaren rear wing is not a “limitation”

McLaren’s return to straight-line speed in the wet came amid the decision to replace the new medium-low downforce rear wing it had introduced.

The overhaul of this area paid off in the sprint as the Woking-based team combined their prowess in the corners without being vulnerable on the straights.

But the deluge that arrived on Sunday prompted McLaren to switch to a more loaded rear wing setup to combat the dangerous conditions that prevailed.

Asked if this locked McLaren into a lack of top speed that hampered the team’s progress, Piastri replied: “I’m not sure how limiting it was.

“You could say in qualifying it helped with the extra downforce and in the race it should have helped for the majority of the lap.

“The first half of the race, yes, you could maybe say it slowed us down a bit because we were stuck behind the cars.

“But in the second half we weren’t stuck behind the cars, we were just slow.

“So I think no matter what back wing we had, in the second half we weren’t really going to finish any better.”

LEARN MORE – Oscar Piastri: ‘Dangerous’ F1 Brazil GP revealed wet tire issues