Oscar Piastri offers response to rumoured Red Bull F1 shock pursuit of him

Oscar Piastri reacts to reports linking him with Red Bull.

21 May 2026

Red Bull is said to be interested in Piastri

Oscar Piastri has responded to Formula 1 paddock rumours that Red Bull is interested in signing him.

Earlier this month, it was reported that Piastri had been singled out by Red Bull as being its preferred ‘Plan B’ option in case Max Verstappen left the team at the end of the 2026 F1 season.

While Piastri admitted the links are “flattering”, the Australian insisted there has been no contact with Red Bull and stressed he is happy at McLaren.

Piastri is reportedly Red Bull's 'Plan B' if Verstappen left

“It is news to me, there’s obviously not been any discussions or anything,” Piastri told media including Crash.net ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix.

“It’s flattering, yes, but 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 championships in the future. So, I’m very happy with where I am.”

During Thursday’s media day in Montreal, Verstappen indicated he will continue racing in F1 next season if a proposal to change the engine regulations is introduced.

McLaren boss brushes off Red Bull interest

Brown has no intention to let Piastri or Norris go

McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown also brushed off Red Bull’s supposed pursuit of Piastri, saying that such interest from rival teams would come as no surprise.

“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, [it’s] 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 anyways, 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 and create that environment. I think there’s a lot of talent inside McLaren that other racing teams would like to have.”