Oscar Piastri addresses his McLaren future following rumours of Max Verstappen joining the constructor

Max Verstappen had been linked with a move to McLaren ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix last weekend, with it being rumoured that this could see Oscar Piastri join Red Bull in a swap deal.

McLaren's CEO, Zak Brown, addressed the rumours, originally reported by the Daily Mail, last weekend, stating that he was happy with his current driver line-up at McLaren.

Speculation around the future of four-time world champion Verstappen has been growing across the last year as Red Bull have struggled to compete for victories regularly, and this has seen him linked to Mercedes and now McLaren.

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It has been widely reported that Verstappen has a performance-related exit clause which is believed to exist in his Red Bull contract, in which the Dutch driver could trigger it if he were outside the top two in the Drivers’ Championship by Hungary.

This may lead to those drivers currently at Mercedes and McLaren looking for assurances that they will be kept in their seat despite Verstappen being available, and now one of those drivers, Piastri, has let his feelings be known about his position at the current constructor champions.

Speaking to PlanetF1 at the British Grand Prix, Piastri said: “For me, it doesn’t mean much.

“Obviously, Max is the talent that he is and looking around.

“I’m very happy with where I am. I’ve been told multiple times that the team are happy with me, and I trust them. So, for me, it doesn’t really mean much.

“Obviously, I’ve got a contract in place as well. So definitely doesn’t change anything. I’m just trying to build on the success that we’ve had.”

Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen and Lando Norris battled for the 2025 Drivers' Championship at the season-ending Abu Dhabi GP (Image: Getty)

Piastri has struggled this season, at least in comparison to last year, as he currently sits fourth in the World Championship standings 91 points behind leader Kimi Antonelli.

The Australian driver was battling for the championship last season, getting the final race of the season with an outside chance of winning the title, only for his teammate Lando Norris to be crowned champion.

Piastri is not entirely pleased with McLaren’s performance this year, as he wants to be challenging for silverware, as he said: “There’s a bit less pressure this year with where we are, but that doesn’t mean that we’re happy where we are. I’d certainly rather be back in the position we were last year trying to win a championship than trying to score podiums at the moment.”