Alan Jones explains why he can’t see Oscar Piastri leaving McLaren despite rival paddock interest

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McLaren driver Oscar Piastri is currently on a quest to become the first Australian to win the Formula 1 drivers’ championship since Alan Jones.

Alan Jones won the 1980 Formula 1 championship with Williams, beating Nelson Piquet and his teammate Carlos Reutemann.

Oscar Piastri will hope he can replicate the final three races of the 1980 campaign when Jones won his only drivers’ championship.

Jones finished second at the Italian Grand Prix before winning back-to-back races in Canada and the United States.

That would be ideal for Piastri, although Lando Norris has a large enough lead in the standings that those results might not be enough to leapfrog his McLaren teammate.

Recently, Piastri has been linked with leaving McLaren, with some people suggesting he’s not been treated fairly by the team compared to Norris. However, Jones has explained why he’s already dismissing that outcome regardless of who wins the championship this year.

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Alan Jones can’t see Oscar Piastri leaving McLaren despite links to rival F1 teams

Jones was asked on the Best of ABC Sport about Piastri potentially leaving McLaren and said: “I doubt it. I mean, where’s he going to go?

“I mean, what team is better than McLaren at the moment? I mean, you wouldn’t go to Ferrari. Mercedes is all hooked up.

“I mean, I don’t know where he’d go, and I don’t know of any other team that would be better than where he is.”

The 1980 F1 world champion was also asked whether Piastri’s recent downturn was because he was feeling the pressure, and he continued: “No, I don’t think so.

“I think that he’s a pretty level-headed bloke, and I think he deals with pressure very well. In fact, six or seven races ago, I said that if it ever came to a mental stout between him and his teammate, I’d back him.

“As it turns out. I think Lando is the one who’s coping with it probably a little bit better. Having that penalty given to him at the last race was a bit of a shame, which I thought was ridiculous.

“I mean, in my opinion, it was a racing incident. I think that when you’ve got 20-odd cars going into a corner on the first lap of a Grand Prix, you’re always going to have wheels touching each other and a bit of banging and crashing and carrying on.

“And I think to force out that penalty that they’ve given Oscar, which was ridiculous.”

READ MORE: Alan Jones hits out at Lando Norris ‘nonsense’ in 2025 F1 title battle with Oscar Piastri

Which Formula 1 teams would be on Oscar Piastri’s radar if he left McLaren?

Piastri is one of the most highly-rated drivers on the grid, and at 24 years old, he’s got a long career in Formula 1 ahead of him.

McLaren signed Piastri up to a long-term contract extension at the beginning of the 2025 F1 season, highlighting their commitment to the Australian.

However, trying to keep two drivers who believe that they’re number ones happy is increasingly difficult, and if Norris wins the championship, it will be interesting to see what the dynamic is going into next year.

Piastri has been linked with Ferrari despite their underwhelming 2025 campaign.

F1 Oversteer understands Aston Martin could be an option for Piastri as they look to refresh their driver line-up in 2027.

Jones’ logic is sound, but if McLaren are no longer a frontrunner once F1’s regulations change in 2026, then Piastri will be glad to know that he already has potential options elsewhere on the grid.