Red Bull have regretted losing out on one F1 driver for the last six years

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Red Bull know they missed two major opportunities to sign Oscar Piastri and still want to put it right, according to Will Buxton.

It recently emerged that Red Bull are interested in Piastri if Max Verstappen leaves. The four-time world champion could retire from the sport over his opposition to the new regulations, but he might also switch teams if he isn’t satisfied with his results.

Piastri signed a new long-term contract at McLaren ahead of the 2025 season, so even if he is willing to make the move, Red Bull may be forced to pay significant compensation.

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Red Bull know they ‘missed the bus’ with Oscar Piastri

Red Bull apparently wish they’d signed Piastri back in 2020 when he first joined the Alpine academy. They could have brought him into F1 through their own youth system instead.

Piastri won the Formula Renault Eurocup title in 2019, and when he followed that up with consecutive F3 and F2 titles, it seemed Alpine had pulled off a masterstroke.

After keeping him on the sidelines in 2022, the Enstone team planned to give him an F1 seat for 2023, only for McLaren to extract him from his contract. This was another missed opportunity for Red Bull.

• READ MORE: Christian Horner made one scarily accurate Oscar Piastri prediction after Red Bull ‘regret’

“Red Bull have had their eyes on Oscar Piastri for years,” Buxton said on the Up to Speed podcast.

“They’ve gone on the record as stating that they wish they’d signed him when he was a junior driver, they shouldn’t have let him go into the Alpine academy, they shouldn’t have then let McLaren get their hands on him.

“They know they missed the bus when it came to Oscar Piastri. The fact that he is on their radar shouldn’t come as a surprise to anybody.”

Buxton later added: “Oscar, given the dissatisfaction, given the fact you know there are ripples in the water over there at McLaren, he’s an obvious target.”

Is Oscar Piastri tired of sharing the ‘glory’ with Lando Norris?

On the face of it, Piastri has little incentive to leave. McLaren are the back-to-back constructors’ champions, and the Australian came within 13 points of winning a title himself last year.

Even this season, McLaren have outscored Red Bull 94-30 despite their no-show at the Chinese GP.

But the 2025 season was dominated by whispers that Lando Norris was receiving preferential treatment at McLaren. Even if Piastri never backed those up, he may prefer an environment where he can be the number one driver.

It wasn’t long ago that Isack Hadjar was being compared to Verstappen at Racing Bulls, so it’s certainly not a given that Piastri would beat him week-in, week-out.

“I could see him in a Red Bull seat,” said Naomi Schiff. “There is an element of him maybe not wanting to share as much glory with his teammate. That’s quite a tough environment when you go head-to-head constantly with the same person.

• READ MORE: Mark Webber has been privately pushing Red Bull to sign Oscar Piastri since 2024 amid renewed links

“If there is a slight preference for Lando, which some people think there is, then maybe that’s why he’s got his ears perked up. It’s very normal in F1 for teams and drivers to be courting each other for quite a long time.”

While Red Bull have previously hired from within almost exclusively, new team principal Laurent Mekies is willing to shop the external market for an A-list driver if required.