Oscar Piastri has played down speculation linking Max Verstappen with a future move to McLaren, insisting he remains fully confident in the team’s faith in him despite the growing rumours surrounding the Dutch driver’s future.
One of the biggest talking points this week has been the possibility of Max Verstappen joining McLaren, potentially following his current race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase to the Woking-based outfit. If such a move were ever to happen, many believe Oscar Piastri would be the driver most likely to make way.
However, the Australian made it clear that he is not concerned by the speculation.
“For me, I mean, it doesn’t really mean much,” Piastri explained. “Obviously Max has incredible talent, judging by what everyone sees. But I’m very happy with who I am. I’ve been told many times that they’re happy with me, and I trust them. So for me, it doesn’t mean a great deal. It doesn’t change anything for me.”
Piastri reflects on his 2026 form
Piastri also looked back at his own performances this season, discussing the disappointing weekend in Barcelona before bouncing back strongly in Austria, where he finished ahead of his team-mate.
“I’m still the same person. This year there’s a little less pressure because of where we are in the championship. We’re happy with where we’ve reached. Of course, I’d much rather be in last year’s situation, fighting for a championship, than aiming for podiums at the moment.”
Asked about the dramatic swing in competitiveness between Spain and Austria, Piastri explained:
“I’d say a lot of those things are applicable everywhere. It wasn’t necessarily a problem that was specific to circuits like Barcelona or Austria, or to those temperatures. There were several things we could have done better. I think Barcelona was something of a wake-up call. If we let some opportunities slip away, it became quite difficult.”
Austria, however, represented a return to the level McLaren expected.
“In Austria we got back to where we should have been. There were some aspects that were specific to that type of circuit and that type of race, such as tyre management and similar factors. But I don’t think our ability to do those things was ever really in question. It was simply about making sure we were in the right places and doing the right things.”
Silverstone and the ‘critical’ energy management challenge
Silverstone is expected to be one of the toughest circuits of the season from an energy management perspective, with drivers spending around 80% of the lap at full throttle.
While Max Verstappen suggested this weekend would be completely different from previous visits to the British Grand Prix, Piastri offered his own assessment after working in the simulator.
“I’ve seen the speed traces from the simulator. I didn’t have exactly the same reaction as Max, but I definitely had a reaction. We’ll see what happens tomorrow, but these are exactly the kinds of circuits where these engines really struggle.”
He also elaborated on why energy management will be so demanding.
“There are long straights and high-speed corners where there’s simply no opportunity to recharge the batteries. Unfortunately, that’s basically what Silverstone is, and what makes it such a special circuit is all those fast corners. We’ll know for sure tomorrow, but it certainly won’t be any better than last year.”
“It hasn’t been a great start to the season”
Looking back at his 2026 campaign, Piastri admitted he has not been completely satisfied with his performances despite several standout weekends.
“Personally, I don’t think it’s been a great start to the season. There have definitely been some highlights. I think Japan was very strong. I also think Austria ended up being very strong. Some of the other races were good as well, but everyone has had reliability problems at some point.”
“As far as the championship is concerned, if I lose five points and I’m seventh or eighth instead of fourth, I don’t really care whether I’m fourth or seventh. It’s not first place, so for me it’s irrelevant. The most important thing is trying to build consistently on the good performances I’ve already had.”
Piastri on the FIA’s handling of Austrian Grand Prix qualifying
The controversial conclusion to qualifying in Austria also came up during the press conference. George Russell secured pole position after taking advantage of the confusion created when Max Verstappen crashed at the penultimate corner, raising questions about the FIA’s handling of yellow flags and overall safety.
Piastri acknowledged how difficult those situations are to manage.
“In qualifying, yellow flags and double yellow flags create chaotic situations, as we’ve seen. I think George did a really remarkable job managing the situation, lifting off the throttle and still managing to stay right up there. But it’s always a very large grey area when things like that happen. It could have been a single yellow, a double yellow or even a red flag.”
Concerns over Formula 1’s increasing reliance on electrical energy
Piastri also admitted he is not entirely convinced by the characteristics of the new Formula 1 cars, which rely much more heavily on electrical energy deployment, warning that they could create dangerous situations on certain circuits.
“I think on some circuits the balance has actually been quite good. For example, in Austria last weekend I thought it worked well. But the risk on circuits with low energy recovery is ending up in ridiculous situations where someone is half a second quicker on one straight and half a second slower on the next.”
“In certain places, that’s dangerous. You have cars with speed differences of 30 or 40 km/h on a straight, and there’s nothing the drivers can do about it.”
Should drivers be penalised for causing qualifying interruptions?
During the press conference, Carlos Sainz also raised the idea of penalising drivers who, for one reason or another, prevent others from completing their final qualifying laps.
Piastri acknowledged that such a rule would be difficult to apply fairly.
“I think in a scenario like that it’s very difficult to make a judgement. If you have a car that breaks down, or in Max’s case there’s a problem with the car that causes an accident, then in some ways it’s a little unfair. So I think there are valid arguments both for and against it.”
Even so, he would not oppose the introduction of such a regulation.
“Personally, I wouldn’t be against introducing it at all. I think it would be fine. But if there’s a mechanical failure, for example, that’s where it becomes very, very difficult to manage, to be honest.”
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