Oscar Piastri is flattered by rumours linking him to Max Verstappen’s Red Bull Racing seat, but the Australian says he isn’t in talks with the energy drinks company about a switch away from McLaren.

Piastri has been intermittently linked to Red Bull Racing throughout his career in part because his manager, Mark Webber, is an alumnus of the team, having claimed all nine of his grand prix victories with Milton Keynes.

Speculation ramped up in the aftermath of Max Verstappen’s recent talk of quitting Formula 1 over his frustration with the new regulations, with reports suggesting Piastri was at the top of Red Bull Racing’s list of potential replacements.

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Red Bull Racing and McLaren are long-time antagonists, particularly with Woking poaching several high-profile staff from Milton Keynes in recent seasons.

Most recently McLaren accused RBR of planting rumours in the media about team principal Andrea Stella having signed a precontract to move to Ferrari in a bid to destabilise the team. The accusation followed McLaren signing RBR’s head of racing, Gianpiero Lambiase.

Piastri is under contract with McLaren until at least the end of 2028, having signed a multi-year contract extension last March.

Speaking ahead of this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix, Piastri said it was nice to be valued in the paddock but denied there was any truth to the rumours.

“It is news to me,” he said, per Autosport. “There’s obviously not been any discussions or anything, but it’s flattering and there’s not really much more than that, really.

“I think, hopefully, it proves my stock as a driver, which is a nice thing, but I’m very happy with where I am. I’ve got a lot of confidence in this team that we are going to be able to win races and hopefully championships in the future, so I’m very happy where I am.”

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The likelihood of Red Bull Racing needing a Verstappen replacement has diminished in recent weeks, with the sport agreeing in principle to alter next year’s regulations in a bid to solve its power unit problems.

The FIA announced during the two-weekend break between rounds that teams and engine manufacturers are in discussions to boost combustion power by 50 kilowatts and reduce electrical output by the same amount, shifting the combustion-electrical balance from its current almost 50-50 split to 60-40.

Oscar Piastri is flattered by rumours linking him to Max Verstappen’s Red Bull Racing seat.Source: AFP

Those changes would pair with other tweaks — including bigger harvesting limits and potentially a bigger battery — to improve the power unit’s overall performance and minimise or eliminate the need for drivers to actively charge the battery.

Speaking for the first time since the in-principle agreement was announced, Verstappen said the proposed rule tweaks significantly decreased the odds of him walking away from the sport next year,

“It will make the product better, so that means that I’m happier, and that’s what I want — to be able to continue and perform well,” he said, per the BBC.

“For me, I’m happy where I’m at. I see the team really progressing, and that’s also very exciting to see.

“I always wanted to continue anyway, but I always wanted to see change, and I think the change that’s coming now is definitely very positive — or at least, I would say, almost back to normal — so that’s good.

“Hopefully that will happen next year. That will already help a lot, because I’ve always said it doesn’t matter if I had a good car or not. It’s just the product, and I think the product will improve like that, so naturally I think the enjoyment will go up as well.”

Verstappen emphasised, however, that he wanted to see the changes approved first, with a decision needing to made in the next few weeks to be implemented for 2027.