Piastri insists McLaren ‘are very happy with me’ amid reported Verstappen talks

Oscar Piastri has given his take on the speculation around Max Verstappen’s management team engaging in talks with McLaren, with the Australian stating that he has received “multiple reassurances that the team are very happy with me”.

As silly season continues to ramp up, the rumour of Verstappen and Piastri swapping seats reared its head once again in Austria, where the weekend kicked off with reports of discussions between the Dutchman’s side and the reigning World Champions.

Asked during media day how he has been affected by the recent talk, Piastri said: “It doesn't really mean much to me. I think Max doesn't need to be spoken about much in terms of his talent.

“I've got a contract in place, multiple reassurances that the team are very happy with me and I'm very happy with the team. For me, I'm very happy where I am and very happy with the situation I'm in. Just trying to continue the success that we've had in the last few years.”

Like his team mate Lando Norris – who was also questioned on the rumours ahead of the British Grand Prix – Piastri is on a multi-year deal that he intends to see out, having first signed with McLaren as a rookie in 2023.

He enjoyed the strongest campaign of his career so far last season, when he finished third in the standings and missed out on the Drivers’ Championship by 13 points to Norris. The pair have delivered McLaren’s most successful years as a team since the 1990s, leading both CEO Zak Brown and Team Principal Andrea Stella to publicly back their current line-up.

They’ve been surpassed by teams like Mercedes, Ferrari, and – at times – Red Bull under the new regulations but are still in the mix as one of the frontrunners, leaving Piastri to set out his expectations for this weekend’s British Grand Prix.

“Difficult to know,” he said. “I think everyone is a little up and down at the moment apart from Mercedes, they are the constant challenge at the very front. Austria was hard to read for us. Qualifying [we] thought we would be stronger, in the race maybe we thought we'd be a bit worse.

“Ferrari we thought would be a lot stronger on Sunday than they were. Max was a lot quicker than we thought. It's changing a lot at the moment from track to track with upgrades.

“I think we should be somewhere near the front, where exactly I don't know but we're still missing that final step to really challenge for wins [and] as long as we put our best foot forward, I think we're in the running for hopefully podiums.”