Oscar Piastri’s likely next team amid McLaren’s ‘hush-hush’ Max Verstappen talks

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McLaren are now believed to have opened preliminary talks with Max Verstappen in a move that would mark the end for Oscar Piastri in Woking, potentially as soon as 2027.

The papaya crew only locked Piastri down with a new long-term contract in March 2025 that runs through the 2028 F1 season. But the possibility of Verstappen hitting the market seems to have enticed McLaren CEO Zak Brown to look at luring the Dutchman away from Red Bull.

Verstappen is technically under contract to Red Bull through 2028, like Piastri is to McLaren, yet he holds the key to the driver market this year thanks to a release clause in his deal. It is an open secret that Verstappen has to be outside the top two in the standings this summer.

Ahead of this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix at Red Bull’s own circuit, Verstappen is seventh in the standings facing a 60-point deficit to second with four rounds until the summer break. Verstappen will have from August until October to use his release clause, once it is available.

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Oscar Piastri to Red Bull is seen as the ‘successful resolution’ to McLaren’s Max Verstappen talks

McLaren are keen to stay in the loop in case four-time champion Verstappen decides to quit Red Bull after a decade in Milton Keynes. That is according to the Daily Mail, which suggests that McLaren and Verstappen are in ‘preliminary’ talks about pairing him with Lando Norris.

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Verstappen is in no rush to decide his future and has long strived to remain loyal to Red Bull, but he is considering his future after seeing them slip down the pecking order. And McLaren are ‘keen’ to swoop if Verstappen is available, which could force Piastri out as early as 2027.

McLaren signing Verstappen’s race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, as their soon-to-be chief racing officer has opened the door to the move for either 2027 or 2028. And if their ‘hush-hush’ talks with Verstappen do end in a ‘successful resolution’, Piastri would go to Red Bull.

As 2025 F1 champion Norris is almost certain to stay regardless of McLaren’s interest in the signing of Verstappen, the idea of Piastri joining Red Bull in the Dutchman’s place is seen as an ideal outcome. It is not the first time that the idea of a seat swap has been raised, either.

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The Daily Mail also suggested back in April after Verstappen first started to threaten to quit Formula 1 due to his hatred of the 2026 regulations that McLaren would be more likely to replace Piastri than Norris. It was said that Piastri has a ‘strained’ relationship with Brown.

Following those suggestions, it has also been reported that Red Bull are interested in Piastri replacing Verstappen – irrespective of the Dutchman possibly switching to McLaren – as the Australian’s contract also includes a release clause that he might be able to trigger this year.

Like Verstappen’s clause that is tied to him hitting the summer break outside the top two in the 2026 F1 drivers’ standings, it is said that the exit clause in Piastri’s contract for McLaren is tied to him hitting the summer break outside the top five. Piastri is currently in sixth with 68 points, while Norris is in fifth with 73 points and Verstappen sits seventh with 55 points.