F1 insider claims Oscar Piastri could move to rival team because of offer McLaren can't match

McLaren could be at risk of losing star driver Oscar Piastri to one of their fierce rivals due to their inability to match an attractive offer, an F1 insider has claimed.

Piastri joined the Woking-based F1 squad in dramatic fashion back in 2022 with his now infamous social media post that rubbished a statement from Alpine announcing him as part of their 2023 F1 lineup.

The Aussie racer had been part of the Enstone squad's junior programme since 2020, but after his bombshell social media post in August 2022, Piastri himself confirmed he would be joining McLaren for 2023 just one month later.

Piastri finished in the top 10 of the drivers' standings in his rookie campaign and even led the championship with McLaren for the majority of last season before settling for third behind team-mate Lando Norris and four-time champion Max Verstappen.

He is understood to be locked into a contract until the end of 2028, the same deal Verstappen has with Red Bull, yet this hasn't stopped rumours of a potential team swap for the two rival drivers.

After Verstappen's race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase announced he would be moving to McLaren no later than 2028 last month, talks ramped up that Piastri could finally have an opportunity to become a No.1 driver, something McLaren are yet to offer him.

READ MORE: McLaren appear to be cursed - what do they do about it?

Why would Piastri leave McLaren for Red Bull?

Piastri and Norris strictly adhered to McLaren's controversial 'papaya rules' last season, something which didn't go down well with fans of the No.81 driver.

McLaren have so far shown they aren't willing to commit to Piastri as their No.1, with the 25-year-old a clear favourite to takeover the lead driver role at Red Bull should Verstappen ever leave.

But there could be another reason besides an eye-watering contract and the lead driver label that could give Red Bull the upper hand in negotiations for Piastri.

In a recent episode of the Up to Speed podcast, F1 journalist Will Buxton and his co-hosts Naomi Schiff and Jolie Sharpe discussed whether the word of a potential move to Red Bull via the F1 rumour mill could be something that becomes a reality for Piastri.

Buxton shared his understanding that the energy drink giants were taking the threat of a potential exit for Verstappen seriously, claiming they are lining up a replacement list, one that Piastri would likely be on.

But aside from the technicalities of such a team swap and whether the Aussie driver would even want to change teams, Buxton shared insight on a key factor that could make the negotiations a lot easier for Red Bull.

"They've admitted from the start of this year, it's got better admittedly since the start of the season, but McLaren is not a factory team. They're a customer and Red Bull have the factory relationship with Ford and that is a very, very powerful pull for a driver to be at a factory team," Buxton pointed out.

"I think that could be shiny shiny for Oscar as well.

Pointing to the career-defining moves from two of the sports greatest talents, Buxton continued his argument, adding: "It sounds kind of mad but I mentioned Lewis [Hamilton] and I mentioned Michael [Schumacher] because they both went to teams that were not performing and they left great teams, world championship teams to go somewhere else and ultimately try to rebuild.

"Michael Schumacher was 1994, 1995 world champion with Benetton and he quit and he moved to Ferrari who hadn't won a drivers' world championship since 1979 and along with Jean Todt, Ross Brawn, a brilliant management team, brilliant design team, they completely turned around the fortunes of Ferrari and set about establishing a period of domination that no one thought would ever be beaten in Formula 1 history until, Lewis Hamilton, already a champion at McLaren decided he was going to leave one of the strongest if not the strongest team in the sport and moved to Mercedes who were only recently returned to Formula 1, were not in any way a consistent challenger for race wins, let alone championships, hadn't won anything really since the 1950s, and he helped change the course of that team and moved them then into the most successful team and the most prolonged period of success that the sport had ever known.

“Those two drivers took a risk, left the most successful team at the time, went somewhere, built a culture, built a championship-winning team and changed the needle."

McLaren currently use Mercedes engines after the former power unit partners reunited in 2021, meaning Piastri has never driven for a works F1 team.

Whether the pull of being able to shape Red Bull Powertrains with Ford could be enough for Piastri to leave McLaren or not is one thing, but whether he is capable of achieving a level of success seen by Hamilton and Schumacher is a completely different story, something Buxton also noted.

"Does Oscar have that Schumacher, Hamilton-esque quality to be able to go and do that? And I find that a fascinating question," he concluded.

READ MORE: Verstappen announces he IS staying in F1 but does not rule out Red Bull exit

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.

View full biography