2027 market: if Verstappen leaves, Red Bull’s dream is to take Piastri

Max’s annoyances The constant ‘stomach aches’ of Max Verstappen, who is little attracted by these new Formula 1 single-seaters generated by the 2026 regulations and who seems increasingly tempted by the idea of abandoning the Circus or at least by the possibility of freeing himself from Red Bull – he could do so by exploiting the almost certain activation of some clauses in his contract – to put himself on the market, force the Austro-English team to realistically contemplate the possibility of not having the Dutchman in the car in 2027. Naturally the main plan of team principal Laurent Mekies and the entire Red Bull management group is to persuade Verstappen not to leave the team, but if this were to happen there is the need to be ready. We wrote to you in recent days that there would be ‘pressure’ from above on Mekies to decide to promote a prospect who grew up in the Red Bull academy to the first team and the two favorites would be Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad. ‘External’ option plates But despite this ‘suggestion’, different possibilities are obviously also being evaluated within the Milton Keynes team. According to what was written in an article published on the official F1 website by journalist and commentator Alex Jacques, Red Bull’s first choice for a possible post-Verstappen situation would actually be Oscar Piastri. The Australian is young and fast and in McLaren after the title won by Norris last year he might feel a little closed off, while it is clear that in Red Bull he would inherit all the ‘attention’ that is currently reserved for Verstappen. However, the hypothesis of this being a sensational transfer is difficult to realize for several reasons: first of all, Piastri has recently signed a multi-year contract with McLaren and Zak Brown and Andrea Stella are banking heavily on him. Therefore they would never agree on the possibility of giving the green light to the release of Melbourne’s #81. Furthermore, leaving the Mercedes-powered McLaren to sit in a poorly competitive Red Bull would represent a huge gamble for Piastri, which would risk ‘burning’ crucial years of his career. Finally, it should not be forgotten that Piastri is also a Monster Energy man, a brand that is a direct competitor of Red Bull. Even from the point of view of sponsorships, therefore, it would be a very complex change of shirt. However, pay attention to precedents: Piastri has already in the past, at the time of his divorce from Alpine, demonstrated that he is not afraid of going into conflict with his employers in the event that he insists on a decision regarding his future. However, it seems unlikely that this is the case.