The McLaren driver finished fifth at Spa-Francorchamps after starting seventh, having been compromised by an issue with the energy deployment from his Mercedes power unit during qualifying.
Piastri had been closely matched with teammate Lando Norris through the corners on his final Q3 lap but finished more than two tenths behind the Briton after receiving less electrical power in crucial sections of the circuit.
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella later explained that self-learning elements within the power unit had calibrated differently despite both drivers using the same settings, leaving Piastri without sufficient battery deployment at key points around the lap.
The Australian said the increasing influence of systems outside the driver’s control had become a source of frustration across the grid.
“It sucks. I can’t really say it any other way than that,” Piastri said.
“I certainly wouldn’t have been the only person [to complain]. I know George [Russell] has had a lot of issues with that this weekend and maybe the last couple of weekends, and speaking to some others, it’s a similar story.
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“When you’ve got qualifying grids decided by computers behaving or misbehaving, it’s a pretty crap way of going racing.
“So, here is obviously going to exaggerate it a lot and make it worse, but when you come in from a qualifying session, you look at all the corners and go, ‘I’m on par with my teammate, and I’m two tenths behind at the end of it’, it’s not a very nice feeling.”
F1’s new power units feature a near-even split between electrical and internal combustion power, creating additional energy-management demands for drivers and teams.
The issue was particularly pronounced at Spa, where the long straights placed greater pressure on battery deployment and exposed McLaren’s lack of straight-line speed throughout the weekend.
Piastri rejected suggestions the problem was limited to Mercedes-powered teams, revealing drivers using rival manufacturers had experienced similar behaviour.
“It’s not just happening with the HPP teams, I think it’s happening with other engine manufacturers as well, so it’s not an us-specific problem,” he said.
“The engines are so complicated. They are sensitive to everything, and even things you do on an out-lap can dictate what happens.”
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Piastri’s difficult starting position left him fighting through traffic during the opening stages of the Belgian Grand Prix before his afternoon was further compromised by contact with Leclerc.
The pair were battling for third on Lap 8 when Piastri attempted to move around the outside approaching Les Combes.
Leclerc moved towards the left while preparing for the corner, leaving the McLaren with little room and causing contact that damaged Piastri’s floor.
“I don’t really know where I was supposed to go,” Piastri said.
“I’m not saying it needed to be a penalty necessary, but at least a black and white flag or something like that.
“Because if we think that that’s fine, it’s one thing having touches like that, but even just the incentive of knowing that you can leave everyone the absolute bare minimum space and get away with it, that’s not the nicest place to be.”
The stewards investigated the collision but determined Piastri’s front axle was not ahead of Leclerc’s and that he had no realistic opportunity to complete the pass from the outside.
They also found that Leclerc had followed the usual racing line rather than deliberately forcing Piastri from the circuit.
“In the stewards’ determination, Car 16 did not deliberately crowd Car 81 off the edge of the track,” the FIA decision read.
“Car 16 followed the racing line before the entry to Turn 5 by moving slightly to the left to open up for Turn 5 and side to side contact occurred between the two cars.
“In the circumstances, the Stewards determined to take no further action.”
McLaren are set to introduce further upgrades at the Hungarian Grand Prix this weekend as it attempts to improve the car’s consistency and return to regular contention at the front.
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