McLaren CEO Zak Brown has responded to claims that Oscar Piastri could be a target for Red Bull should Max Verstappen decide to leave the team or quit F1.
Verstappen’s long-term future both at Red Bull and in grand prix racing has been an oft-discussed topic in recent times, especially given his strong attacks on the current technical regulations.
The Dutchman’s contract expires at the end of the 2028 season, when he will turn 31 years old, and he has already signalled that he will not continue into his late 30s or early 40s, like fellow champions Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton have done.
Verstappen is understood to have an escalator clause in his contract, whereby if he is not in a certain position in the championship standings by the summer break, he can leave Red Bull for the following season.
For 2025, this was proven to be a top-three placing, with the escalation meaning that if the quadruple champion is not in the top two by the 2026 season break, he is free to leave for 2027.
When Verstappen does ultimately leave Red Bull, Piastri’s name has been touted as a possible replacement, with his manager, Mark Webber, being a former Red Bull driver himself.
Piastri is on a long-term deal with McLaren, with his CEO believing that any team on the grid would be interested in trying to steal Piastri or his team-mate, the reigning champion, Lando Norris.
“I would imagine there’s not a team on the grid that wouldn’t want to have Oscar and Lando driving for them,” Brown told The Athletic.
“My general view, contracts aside, is that our job is to create an environment where our drivers don’t want to drive anywhere else, or, for that matter, our employees or our sponsors don’t want to sponsor another team.
“My job, our job, is to create an environment where you go: ‘Well, you’ve got a contract.’ Yes, we have that anyway, for the record.
“But you don’t want to hold someone because you’ve got a piece of paper; you want (them) to go: ‘This is the team I want to race with, the team I want to be on, the team I want to be a mechanic on, the team I want to sponsor.’
“That’s what I want to do: try to create that environment. I think there’s a lot of talent inside McLaren that other racing teams would like to have.”
