Oscar Piastri was a distant sixth at the Dutch Grand Prix, while teammate Lando Norris was victorious. (Getty Images: EYE4Images/NurPhoto)
Oscar Piastri's "disappointing" end to the Dutch Grand Prix has left the Australian and his McLaren team searching for answers, while his teammate has roared back into the Formula 1 title picture.
Last weekend in Zandvoort was shaping to be a good weekend for Piastri.
The Australian was matching the pace at the front through qualifying, and after a terrific second start in the grand prix following Max Verstappen's heavy crash, Piastri was on course for a first podium finish since Miami in May.
Reigning world champion Lando Norris has doubled his grand prix win tally in 2026, producing a pair of brilliant overtakes to win the Dutch Grand Prix.
Piastri had performed a breathtaking overtake on Mercedes driver George Russell to move into third and was not far off the pace set by leaders Kimi Antonelli and teammate Lando Norris, despite being on a harder compound tyre.
But a slow first pit stop knocked Piastri back behind Russell and out of third place, and it only got worse from there.
Piastri, who won the Dutch Grand Prix in 2025, fell right off the pace and finished a distant sixth as Norris surged to victory.
Piastri was running third until a slow pit stop knocked him out of the podium position at Zandvoort. (Reuters: Benoit Tessier)
The sudden pace drop-off has left Piastri with plenty of questions that he and the team will want answers to.
"The first stint felt reasonable, but from the second stint onwards, the pace was simply not there, and it became a real struggle," he said.
"We will review the entire weekend and analyse to understand why we experienced such a significant performance drop-off.
"A slow pit stop didn't help, but the fundamental issue was the lack of pace, which is something we'll work on ahead of Monza.
"That's the priority now, to dig into the data with the team to find the root cause and ensure we can move forward in a more positive direction for the upcoming races."
Piastri's situation is a far cry from where he was at the conclusion of last year's Dutch Grand Prix, when he claimed his seventh grand prix win of the season and was the championship leader.