Oscar Piastri may still have three years remaining on his deal at McLaren, but there is no hiding that his future is under a cloud – or the fact his replacement has been found.
The Australian inked a fresh deal at the beginning of the year, however, by the season’s end, Piastri had been rumoured to be seeking an exit in the near future.
It has been a rollercoaster 12 months for Piastri, who just two months ago looked on track to win his first drivers’ championship title, only to lose it to his teammate.
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A series of questionable strategy calls by McLaren caused a stir in the latter end of the season, while Max Verstappen and Red Bull also crawled back into the title race.
In the end, Norris held onto the top spot and was crowned world champion in Abu Dhabi.
For Piastri, what followed was a loud roar of speculation that he was indeed on his way out of McLaren and would be heading to Red Bull or Ferrari.
Either option would be a major career gamble for Piastri, but they are not off the cards.
In fact, Nextgen-Auto have reported that McLaren are “particularly interested” in signing Ferrari’s Charles LeClerc – a move that could see a straight driver swap play out.
LeClerc is contracted with Ferrari until the end of 2029, but given the team’s struggles in recent seasons, it is unclear if he will definitely see out his deal.
Then again, links to Red Bull appear to be stronger for Piastri due to the connections his manager’s, Australian racing great Mark Webber, has with the team.
McLaren chief executive Zak Brown has made it clear that the team has no intention to change their ‘papaya rules’ policy, which ensures fairness between the two drivers.
Although, that policy has been heavily criticised due to the belief that even though in some cases the strategy appeared fair, it did frequently hinder Piastri’s results.
Still, Brown could not hide his pride when it came to reflecting on his team’s season.
“All the men and women at McLaren have done an unbelievable job, led by our two awesome drivers. And of course, the job Andrea (Stella) has done leading our team,” Brown said at the FIA gala.
“To go into the final race with two drivers dighting for the world championship, when everyone said that couldn’t be done, I’m just very proud of how McLaren went racing. That’s exactly what we plan to do next year.”
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Stella added his own praise for the team after Brown’s speech, stating that the way both Norris and Piastri conducted themselves during the season ultimately won them the title.
“They are the ones that deliver the results, the points, the victories, the podiums, which ultimately made us the constructors’ champions,” he said.
“We are very, very proud of how the drivers conducted themselves, allowing McLaren to go racing.
“That’s what we do – we go racing – and we did it with equality and fairness, so thank you to Lando and Oscar.”
