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Ralf Schumacher expects Red Bull will target a deal for Oscar Piastri if Max Verstappen now decides to follow Gianpiero Lambiase over to McLaren instead of retiring from F1.
Verstappen has recently been threatening to retire from F1 at the end of the 2026 campaign due to his hatred of the new engine regulations, which Red Bull failing to develop a good car has only exaggerated. The RB22 has chronic balance problems that rile both of their drivers.
Now, Red Bull’s head of racing Lambiase, who is also Verstappen’s race engineer, deciding to join McLaren no later than the 2028 F1 season might push the four-time champion closer to the exit door. Verstappen is highly likely to be able to trigger a release clause in his contract.
Verstappen will have from August to October to activate his release clause should he hit the summer break outside of the top two in the F1 drivers’ standings. The 28-year-old currently sits just ninth after the first three rounds and is 51 points adrift of George Russell in second.
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Ralf Schumacher tips Red Bull to target Oscar Piastri if Max Verstappen follows Gianpiero Lambiase to McLaren
Lambiase has agreed to join McLaren in 2028 as their new chief racing officer, in a role that will see him take over some of their race-weekend duties from team principal Andrea Stella. Stella partly instigated McLaren’s move for Lambiase to focus on other aspects of his duties.
READ MORE: All to know about Max Verstappen’s F1 race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase
Given Verstappen’s close friendship with Lambiase, the idea of him also moving to McLaren has gained weight. Schumacher feels it may even now be between Verstappen retiring from F1 or joining Lambiase at McLaren, which would surely see Red Bull target a deal for Piastri.
Schumacher told Sky Germany: “In my view, Max will be looking elsewhere next year. On the one hand, this could mean a departure from Red Bull, because he no longer believes in the team and is calling it quits altogether, given that he never tires of emphasising how boring he finds his time in Formula 1.
“Or, he goes to McLaren with his engineer, which would equally mean there are negotiations underway at McLaren for Oscar Piastri to go to Red Bull – something we’ve seen before.
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“We mustn’t forget either this exit clause, which was denied, appears to exist. And it doesn’t currently look as though Red Bull will be in a top position by the middle of the year. Accordingly, Verstappen is also free to do something like this.”
Schumacher may not be too far off with his suggestion, as it has emerged since Lambiase’s move was announced that McLaren would be more likely to drop Piastri for Verstappen than Lando Norris. Piastri is thought to have a strained relationship with McLaren CEO Zak Brown.
Piastri is under contract at McLaren through 2028, like Verstappen is with Red Bull on paper. But Verstappen has release clauses in his deal, and it is likely that Piastri also has ways out of his deal. It was also reported in December that Piastri has looked at joining Red Bull for 2027.
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