Oscar Piastri has abundantly made clear that he is sick and tired of the incessant talk about the alternative front suspension system in McLaren. His frustration also came out during the Belgian Grand Prix weekend when he was asked about the part he refuses to use. Rather than softening the blow, the Australian linked was not ashamed of straight up saying that it is not an upgrade, it is just a different part. It always looks like it boosts his performance to him, but it is only an optional setting that fits into a different driving style. Not including McLaren camp, he is not the only one who is in that opinion.

At the Canadian Grand Prix, McLaren began using a new design of the front suspension that had a more sharply angled steering axis. Lando Norris took to the new setup well, which assists in providing a more desirable feel and responsiveness when steering a car, especially when the drivers brake late and apply far more steering angle to get into the corner. The modification improves the bite and the accuracy of turn-ins at the front end, and this meets the driving style of Norris. With Piastri, however, since he has a distinct taste in style and is already comfortable with the status quo, it is not going to make a big difference.

The initial set-up that Piastri still competes in is not inferior by any means. It carries anti-dive components and an aerodynamics trimmed, lower wishbone construction, fitted with the ground effect chassis of the McLaren. The team has utilized much time to perfect this design, to balance it, manage tyres and also have predictable characteristics in long runs. Engineers have even gone ahead to refer to the wishbone as a work of art thus indicating the level of detail in which the original suspension has been designed.

Pistri has practiced the alternate suspension in simulator sessions and even during free practice at Montreal, but she did not decide to race with it. His verdict? This was not a plus. As he says, had it been something as easy as being a benefit, then I would wear it. That is not the case though.” He views it as adding more variables without a perceived benefit in it. The wiser choice of a driver who wants to pursue consistency and tyre survival across the race as a whole is to remain faithful to his or her initial setup.

In the view of McLaren, it is up to the team to ensure that both drivers can access whichever type of suspension geometry they could want. This will provide parity and the duo will have the liberty of making a choice of what suits them best. Although this will add an extra logistical and engineering effort to ensure the delivery of the two different configurations, the team has been sticking to this dual strategy as both drivers are being competitive with their respective configurations.

Norris, on the other hand, faced issues with standard configuration as he felt that something was lacking in front-end feel and responsiveness. The new design overcomes this issue to him, but it may have some negative consequences in races where you would be hard on the tyres, more camber gain under load and ride quality changed and so could be a negative. Those traits are what makes Piastri hesitant to take on the new setup, although it has been professed as the more developed one.

Piastri says he is getting fed up with the media asking him about the matter and the reason is as plain as that, it is not a case of right or wrong. It is a question of the style of driving. He has made it clear numerous times that his decision is not aimed at rebelling against development but is what suits his needs to get the most out of the car. Still, he is drawn back over and over again into the same discussion race by race. What he says is clear- he has been through it all.

It appears that on the one hand, McLaren seems to be in good form and that both drivers are returning to form and the suspension debate feels more of a diversion than an urgent or burning issue. Piastri does not care about speculating technical decisions but the outcome. He prefers not to talk his performance. In the meantime, that equates to maintaining the status quo by doing what has worked to date, and demanding the paddock put the suspension saga to bed, once and for all.

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