Oscar Piastri is said to be facing a crossroads in his Formula 1 career, as Otmar Szafnauer and Rob Smedley warn that leaving McLaren, even for Red Bull, may not be his best option.<\/p>\n
Piastri has been linked to Red Bull in a straight swap with four-time F1 world champion Max Verstappen.<\/p>\n
Oscar Piastri warned against swapping McLaren for Red Bull<\/p>\n
Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google<\/a> to your favourites list for news you can trust<\/p>\n It\u2019s an interesting prospect, if there\u2019s any truth behind it, for Piastri<\/a>.<\/p>\n Not only would the Australian take up the number-one role at Red Bull, but it would also put an end to conspiracies of favouritism towards Lando Norris after Piastri lost the F1 2025 title to his teammate.<\/p>\n Piastri would step out of his teammate\u2019s alleged shadow, but would it yield a world title?<\/p>\n At present, it is McLaren that has the better car than Red Bull and its Miami Grand Prix upgrades cemented that.<\/p>\n Not only did Norris and Piastri finish 1-2 in the Sprint, but the teammates also joined Kimi Antonelli on the grand prix podium.<\/p>\n It has former F1 team principal Otmar Szafnauer questioning whether changing teams, even for Red Bull, would be worth it for Piastri.<\/p>\n \u201cLast season, in the middle of the season, I thought he [Piastri] was going to win it,\u201d Szafnauer admitted. \u201cAfter I put all my money on Lando, I thought: \u2018Can I just get some of my money back, because I\u2019m going to lose?\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cAnd then it all turned good [for Lando]. Last season, I thought Oscar was going to win it mid-season.<\/p>\n \u201cThis season, it\u2019s too [early]. We\u2019re not even into the year yet. It\u2019s hard to predict, so that\u2019s why that big \u2018if\u2019 is there.<\/p>\n \u201cSo if, over time, it looks like I\u2019m going to struggle to win the world championship to beat this guy. Not necessarily 100 per cent of the time.<\/p>\n \u201cFor example, I always thought Lewis [Hamilton] was going to beat [Nico] Rosberg, always. And there was a year where Rosberg beat him, and then he retired.<\/p>\n \u201cA similar thing could happen if Lando keeps winning and then maybe Oscar will or not, but that\u2019s why [there is] the big \u2018if\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cWould you then leave to go to another team, so you got a chance at the world title? Because he is a great driver, but so is Lando. I think they\u2019re pretty equal.\u201d<\/p>\n Equal teammate, but does Piastri feel he has a shot against Norris for the title?<\/p>\n F1 2026 McLaren scores: Oscar Piastri v Lando Norris<\/p>\n F1 2026: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between teammates<\/a><\/p>\n F1 2026: Head-to-head race statistics between teammates<\/a><\/p>\n That\u2019s a difficult question for Piastri with former Ferrari race engineer Smedley claiming that McLaren is the team best placed to take the fight to Mercedes, but does the driver feel he can challenge Norris on equal terms.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s a hard one for a driver,\u201d Smedley replied on the High Performance Racing podcast.<\/p>\n \u201cMcLaren [is] catching up. Mercedes is in front of this point, but [over the] last two years they\u2019ve been probably the best team.<\/p>\n \u201cThis year they\u2019ll be there or thereabouts. They know how to win world championships now, they could now win multiple constructors\u2019 world championships on the bounce.<\/p>\n \u201cSo that\u2019s telling you that this is a team that is entering its pomp if it doesn\u2019t mess up.<\/p>\n \u201cThen, if you\u2019re a driver in that team and you\u2019re struggling against your teammate \u2013 and I\u2019m going back now to my Ferrari days \u2013 what\u2019s the option for you?<\/p>\n \u201cDo you leave and go to a worse team that actually has no chance of winning the world championship, but you might be the better driver in the team? The number one?\u201d<\/p>\n And then he laid down his warning to Piastri, \u201cI\u2019ve seen that on many an occasion. I\u2019ve seen drivers do that and I\u2019ve never seen it work out well.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve never seen it where the driver has been happier.\u201d<\/p>\n Last year Piastri signed a new multi-year contract with McLaren, one that would keep the Australian racer at the team \u201cfor the long term.\u201d<\/p>\n And McLaren CEO Zak Brown has made it clear he\u2019s not letting go of either Piastri or Norris any time soon<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI couldn\u2019t be happier with our driver line-up,\u201d Brown told Sky F1 in Miami. \u201cLando and Oscar are not only two great guys on and off the track, but also shine as teammates.\u201d<\/p>\n He believes that is what \u201chas made McLaren so successful\u2026 So I couldn\u2019t be happier with what we have and have no intention of changing anything about it.\u201d<\/p>\n Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp<\/a> to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.<\/p>\n You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel<\/a> for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!<\/p>\n