Oscar Piastri sent warning over Red Bull F1 switch: 'I've never seen it work out well'

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Oscar Piastri sent warning over Red Bull F1 switch: 'I've never seen it work out well'

Would it be a career-ending mistake for Piastri to leave McLaren?

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Tuesday 12 May 2026 21:56

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Ever since Oscar Piastri lost out on his maiden F1 championship to McLaren team-mate Lando Norris, there have been rumours a potential team switch is on the cards for the Aussie star.

Piastri led the drivers' standings for much of last year's campaign, but eventually wound up down in third after Norris clinched the title and four-time champion Max Verstappen finished just two points behind the Brit in second.

But with a new set of regulations and a new season upon them, McLaren have enjoyed a bit of a break from the spotlight in 2026 due to the early lead that Mercedes have taken in both championships.

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That was until the news broke that the papaya F1 squad would be welcoming Verstappen's long-time race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase in the role of chief racing officer no later than 2028.

This is a major coup for McLaren and naturally kickstarted the rumour mill over Piastri and Verstappen's futures once again, with some suggesting a driver swap could take place between McLaren and Red Bull.

There is currently no evidence to support this theory, but even though McLaren CEO Zak Brown has publicly stated he 'couldn't be happier' with his current driver lineup, he has also hinted that should Norris or Piastri leave in future, it could open up a gap for the Dutch superstar.

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Would Piastri be happier at Red Bull?

Though Piastri missed out on his first career title win in 2025, he has settled in at McLaren and would risk throwing the safety net of a familiar team away just to join the ever-diminishing Red Bull F1 squad.

After a discussion on the High Performance Racing Podcast over whether Piastri should consider leaving McLaren if he is unable to win a title there due to their lack of a No.1 driver, Rob Smedley, the former race engineer for Ferrari star Felipe Massa, gave his thoughts on the risk of moving to a less competitive team just to be considered top dog.

"That's a hard one for a driver, isn't it? Because let's say that McLaren, okay, they're catching up. Mercedes are in front of this point, but like last two years, they've been probably the best team. And this year they'll be there or thereabouts," he said.

"They're now to win world championships. They were now to win multiple world championships on the bounce, constructors'. So that's telling you that this is a team if it doesn't mess it up, is entering its pomp, right?

"So if you're a driver in that team and you're struggling against your team-mate and I'm going back now to my Ferrari days. What's the option for you?

"Do you leave and go to a worse team that actually has no chance of winning the world championship, but you might be the better driver in that team, the number one?

Drawing of his own decades worth of experience from working in F1, Smedley then warned: "I've seen that on many an occasion. I've seen drivers do that and I've never seen it work out well. I've never seen it where the driver's been happier."

Regardless of whether Piastri wants to stay at McLaren or not, there is no doubt that it is four-time champion Verstappen who holds the keys to the upcoming F1 silly season.

Written by

Kerry Violet - F1 News Editor

Having graduated from the University of Sheffield with a 2:1 in Journalism in 2022, Kerry continued her pursuit of finding a full-time position in motorsport through work with the F1 Arcade in London, where she got to meet true fans of the sport and make a live grand prix watch party memorable for them. It was here that she confirmed her dream of combining her background in journalism and love of motorsport, going on to volunteer with the female-led platform Empoword Journalism. Having completed stints as a screen editor and sports editor, Kerry landed her first F1-specific editorial role with GPFans and has thoroughly enjoyed continuing to work closely with the sport ever since. The access GPFans offers Kerry has allowed her to interview big names such as Naomi Schiff and David Coulthard and given her experiences she could only have dreamt of as a young F1 fan.

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F1 Red Bull McLaren Oscar Piastri