When a driver’s manager starts using words like ‘nonsense’ and ‘fiction’, you know the rumour mill has gone completely off the rails. That is exactly where we are with Oscar Piastri and McLaren right now, and his manager Mark Webber is not amused.
The Denial That Says It All
Webber has broken his silence in emphatic fashion, shooting down the swirling speculation that Piastri is looking to engineer an exit from McLaren ahead of the 2027 season.
“Oscar is contracted to McLaren for the foreseeable future. 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.” – Mark Webber
It is the kind of statement you issue when the noise has become impossible to ignore. Rumours had Piastri unhappy, triggering performance clauses, eyeing Red Bull, flirting with Audi, and apparently willing to hand his seat to Max Verstappen on a silver platter. It was spectacular fiction, and Webber has had enough of it.
What Is Actually Driving This?
The source of the chaos is straightforward: Verstappen is reportedly available, and McLaren is one of the few teams genuinely capable of attracting him. With Verstappen having an exit clause at Red Bull that can be triggered this summer, speculation about who makes way at McLaren was inevitable. Piastri, sitting sixth in the standings on 82 points and trailing teammate Lando Norris, became the obvious target for the gossip merchants.
Piastri himself, speaking ahead of Silverstone, was admirably unbothered. “I’m very happy with where I am,” he said. “I’ve got a contract in place, I trust the team, and I’m just trying to build on the success of last season.” Not exactly the words of a man plotting his escape.
Brown Plays It Straight
McLaren CEO Zak Brown has also been consistent, if diplomatically careful. He called the Verstappen reports “rumours” and insisted he is very happy with his current pairing. Given that Mercedes are currently running away with the championship, McLaren arguably has bigger problems than a driver swap to worry about.
Fiction Sells, But Facts Still Matter
Webber’s frustration is understandable. The Piastri-to-Red-Bull narrative was particularly creative given Webber’s own history with the team, making him the convenient plot device for a story that, by all credible accounts, has no basis in reality. Piastri is going nowhere. Norris is going nowhere. And unless Verstappen can conjure a vacancy from thin air, the McLaren seat-swap saga may simply be the most entertaining piece of F1 fan fiction of the summer.
