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McLaren’s recent talks with Red Bull driver Max Verstappen may be focused on the 2028 season, rather than 2027.
Verstappen’s frustration with Red Bull is obvious, but McLaren have repeatedly said, both on and off the record, that they don’t have a seat available for next year.
The driver market landscape could look very different for the Dutchman in a year’s time, though. Neither Lewis Hamilton nor George Russell are guaranteed a seat beyond 2027, and McLaren may have an opening too.
McLaren control 2027 break clause in Oscar Piastri’s contract talks
According to Sky Italia, the possibility of Verstappen joining McLaren for next year is ‘not concrete’ at this stage. The four-time world champion is unhappy with Red Bull’s car, the exodus of top engineers and his waning influence over team decisions, but he may have no alternative if he wishes to stay on the grid.
It has recently emerged that Piastri’s deal includes an exit clause this year, which he can activate if he’s outside the top five in the standings at the beginning of the summer break. He’s sixth, 15 points behind teammate Lando Norris in fifth.
If you were Zak Brown, would you sign Max Verstappen or keep Oscar Piastri?
At this stage, Piastri has no obvious incentive to activate his clause, though. Even if McLaren’s title defence has been disappointing, joining Red Bull – his only other option – would be a step down.
He would simply be dealing with many of the problems Verstappen is facing right now.
However, Sky say that McLaren control a 2027 break clause in Piastri’s deal. While the contract runs beyond that point, this could put his future ‘in the team’s hands’.
Piastri signed his extension in March 2025, just before the season started, after an impressive sophomore campaign. He won two races and scored eight podiums, demonstrating that he was an elite talent.
But even though Zak Brown was already talking about having the best driver line-up on the grid at that point, he was clearly thinking about the potential long-term availability of Verstappen. He’s the only driver good enough to break up McLaren’s current pairing.
Inserting the 2027 clause was a genius move from Brown. It wasn’t enough to scupper the negotiations, but it gave him the flexibility he needed to be in the running if the best driver on the grid was up for grabs.
Brown openly admitted that, during the negotiations with Piastri, he called Verstappen’s manager Raymond Vermeulen to ‘know what is going on’.
“I got exactly the information I needed,” he told De Telegraaf in a remark that has now taken on a new meaning.
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