‘A big smile on my face’ - What it’s like to drive an old F1 car for a current driver
Oscar Piastri compares driving older-generation F1 cars to the current crop
McLaren Formula 1 driver Oscar Piastri says he “had a pretty big smile on my face” after driving older-generation cars.
F1 underwent a radical overhaul of its car regulations for the 2026 season, with a move away from the ground effect rules from recent years, as well as a major change to the power units.
While the new cars themselves have been praised by drivers, the power units have been widely criticised.
This has led to a renewed push by FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem for F1 to return to simpler, louder V8 engines under the next regulations cycle in the early 2030s.
“There’s definitely an element of nostalgia”
The backlash to the 2026 rules has led to large swathes of social media fondly looking back at previous generations of cars.
Oscar Piastri says he’s driven Fernando Alonso’s 2007 McLaren and recently drove Lewis Hamilton’s 2008 title-winning car.
While he wouldn’t be drawn into any direct comparisons between the older generation of machinery and the current spec, he noted “I enjoyed it a lot, is what I will say”.
However, he also noted that there was definitely “an element of nostalgia” in his views on the older cars.
“I’ve driven Fernando’s 2007 car, and I was lucky enough to drive Lewis’s 2008 car earlier this year,” Piastri said in Hungary.
“I enjoyed it a lot, is what I will say. It’s just a different era.
“The cars being so light and the noise they make, especially from that time, is pretty incredible.
“The cars we have now are still very quick, clearly.
“But when you’ve grown up watching that on TV and listening to it, there’s definitely that element of nostalgia as well.
“That was the time I started watching Formula 1.
“I think the cars you grew up watching always seem cooler, whether they actually are or not.
“Driving cars from 2007 and 2008, I had a pretty big smile on my face when I got out.”
Piastri was especially critical of the current power units after the Belgian Grand Prix, stating that what the drivers can do is severely impacted by algorithms.
