Oscar Piastri’s manager Mark Webber has dismissed as fiction lingering reports suggesting McLaren’s Australian driver might swap places with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
Four-time world champion Verstappen’s race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase has already signed a deal to join McLaren when his contract allows, by 2028 at the latest, and the Dutch driver has been unhappy with Red Bull’s performance.
Verstappen is known to have a break clause in his contract and continues to be linked in media speculation to McLaren, despite them saying they are happy with the current pairing of Piastri and world champion Lando Norris.
“I’ve got a contract in place, multiple reassurances that the team are very happy with me and I’m very happy with the team,” Piastri said at last weekend’s British Grand Prix, in which his race was ruined by car damage.
Verstappen crashed out of that race and said his car’s rear wing was “super-dangerous”, with the incident further fuelling speculation about a rift within the team.
Webber told Racer.com that Piastri was contracted to McLaren “for the foreseeable future”.
“Talk of him agitating to leave is nonsense,” said the former F1 driver.
“There has been a lot of fiction written about him and other teams … McLaren have repeatedly said they want him for the long term and Oscar is focused on that.”
McLaren boss Zak Brown has previously indicated Verstappen was unlikely to join the Formula 1 champions unless one of his current drivers “slipped on a banana peel”.
The American was asked by Sky Sports television before the Austrian Grand Prix start about a possible interest in the Red Bull driver, for 2027 or later, now that Mercedes have a rising star in championship leader Kimi Antonelli alongside George Russell.
“I’d be very surprised if Lando or Oscar went elsewhere because they’re very happy,” Brown said.
“You know, of course we’ve got contracts but contracts aside, we’re very happy with them, they’re very happy here.
“If for some strange reason, someone slipped on a banana peel getting out of the tub, then yeah, of course, Max is a four-time world champion.”
Reports from media including Sky Sports indicated that Verstappen’s management had requested, and held, a meeting with McLaren ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix. The content of any discussions wasn’t reported, and the Dutch driver has yet to comment.
When asked about the rumours of a switch to Red Bull last month, Piastri said he was happy at McLaren.
“It is news to me. There’s obviously not been any discussions or anything, but it’s flattering and there’s not really much more than that, really,” he told Autosport.
“I think, hopefully, it proves my stock as a driver, which is a nice thing, but I’m very happy with where I am.”
Reuters
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