F1 paddock insider suspects Oscar Piastri is ‘looking around’ for a new team after what he’s seen

Follow us on Google Discover

Oscar Piastri is currently enduring one of the most difficult periods of his F1 career. Despite being at the helm of championship-winning machinery, the Australian may be shopping around for a more promising situation.

Following the chequered flag at the Mexico City Grand Prix last weekend, Piastri fell off his perch at the top of the F1 standings as he relinquished the lead of the championship to his McLaren counterpart, Lando Norris.

The Australian had led the standings since April, and after taking a 34-point lead following the resumption of racing after the summer break, he looked to be in firm control of securing a maiden world title.

However, things have unravelled in recent race weekends, and Piastri finds himself one point adrift of Norris after failing to secure a podium finish in any of the last five races across all formats.

READ MORE: Andrea Stella addresses McLaren’s alleged ’emotional bias’ towards Lando Norris over Oscar Piastri

Peter Hardenacke suspects Oscar Piastri is ‘looking around’ for a new F1 team

In a recent episode of the Backstage Boxengasse podcast, Ralf Schumacher saw something ‘very dangerous’ from Piastri that raised questions over the future of the McLaren star.

The former F1 driver felt like the Australian was letting speculation about the ongoings within the ranks of the Woking-based racing outfit was getting to him, and the fact that his manager, Mark Webber, is ‘constantly’ on the phone isn’t helping his efforts.

However, F1 insider Peter Hardenacke went on to note how Webber has changed his practices inside the confines of the paddock, which has led to him theorising that Piastri’s manager is on the hunt for greener pastures for his driver.

He said, “Also Mark Webber, I believe I haven’t seen him not on the phone, even once, in the four or five days we were at the track.

“So it’s quite astonishing and also incredibly stone-faced; when you ask him if he might be available for a statement, he immediately shuts it down.

“But this has been going on for weeks, which might also help in such a situation to eliminate doubts.

“So my feeling is somehow that one might be looking around to see if there’s still something happening in the driver market. Not an easy situation.”

READ MORE: Zak Brown reveals what he’ll say to Max Verstappen if Red Bull star snatches 2025 title from McLaren

Ralf Schumacher has squashed any speculation regarding McLaren’s favouritism of their drivers

After Norris took the chequered flag in Mexico for his sixth win of the current campaign, boos rang around the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

Puzzling at first, it came to light that the fans in attendance were unhappy with McLaren’s handling of team orders at a previous round of racing, in Monza.

After leapfrogging Norris due to a slow pit stop at the Italian Grand Prix in September, Piastri was asked to cede his position back to his teammate, despite not being at fault for the incident in the first place.

The Australian obeyed accordingly, and Piastri faced accusations of not being a ‘pure racer’ due to his actions. Figures within the F1 world believed any other former world champion would have refused to give up their place because of a mistake made by the team.

This led to many fans believing that the Woking-based racing outfit were favouring Norris in the title fight, instead of giving them an equal playing field to battle against each other.

However, a ‘reliable source’ has told Schumacher that McLaren are certainly not favouring either Norris or Piastri, and are solely focused on making sure it is one of their own drivers who take the title home with them, and not the circling Max Verstappen.