Webber rejects ‘nonsense’ talk about Piastri angling to leave McLaren

Mark Webber says Oscar Piastri is focused on his long-term future with McLaren amid what he calls “nonsense” speculation that he is looking to leave the team.

Links between Max Verstappen and McLaren have surfaced over the past month, and any potential move for the four-time world champion would require either Piastri or Lando Norris to be replaced. Both are under contract, but it has been Piastri who has faced the majority of the questions relating to if he could need to move elsewhere – something his manager Webber firmly denies.

“Oscar is contracted to McLaren for the foreseeable future,” Webber told RACER. “Talk of him agitating to leave is nonsense.

“There has been a lot of fiction written about him and other teams… McLaren have repeatedly said they want him for the long term and Oscar is focused on that.”

Webber’s comments come after unfounded social media speculation ramped up at the start of this week, fueled by teasers for Scott Dixon’s switch to McLaren in IndyCar. Sources at McLaren confirmed to RACER at the time that the IndyCar announcement was the only one planned, and that other rumors were wide of the mark.

McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown has repeatedly stated he is not actively looking to recruit Verstappen in place of one of his current drivers, less than a year on from 25-year-old Piastri finishing third in the drivers’ championship while Norris took the title.

“I’m very happy with my two racing drivers, Lando and Oscar,” Brown said at Silverstone. “And I think any time a name like Max is thrown around everyone gets pretty excited – a four-time world champion – but I’m very happy with our driver line-up.

“I haven’t really thought about [what I could offer Verstappen] because I’ve got two drivers in the seats. So, what I couldn’t offer him was a seat in my race car.

“[Any talks] didn’t go anywhere. I’ve got my two drivers, so there’s nothing to report.”

When it was suggested to Brown that if there were to be a move it would not happen anytime soon, he replied: “Correct.”

Topics

oscar piastri

mclaren

lando norris

max verstappen

zak brown

indycar

formula 1

scott dixon

Formula 1

Chris Medland

While studying Sports Journalism at the University of Central Lancashire, Chris managed to talk his way into working at the British Grand Prix in 2008 and was retained for three years before joining ESPN F1 as Assistant Editor. After three further years at ESPN, a spell as F1 Editor at Crash Media Group was followed by the major task of launching F1i.com’s English-language website and running it as Editor. Present at every race since the start of 2014, he has continued building his freelance portfolio, working with international titles. As well as writing for RACER, his broadcast work includes television appearances on F1 TV and as a presenter and reporter on North America's live radio coverage on SiriusXM.

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