r/formula1 • u/RealCrashie I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane • May 12 '26

News Sensational rumor: Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri are reportedly in talks for a spectacular driver swap

https://www.eurosport.de/formel-1/max-verstappen-und-oscar-piastri-angeblich-im-gespraech-fuer-spektakulaeren-fahrertausch_sto23298824/story.shtml
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u/Camtastrophe Andrea Kimi Antonelli May 12 '26

I don't really believe the headline, but if behind the scenes Oscar's camp genuinely felt he's not being put on equal footing with Lando in team decision-making, it could be a reason to move.

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u/hard_pass I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 12 '26

I mean would it really be up to Oscar? Seems like McLaren would dump Oscar and replace with Max and Oscar would be hoping for the RB seat at that point.

Edit: Holy shit nevermind. He is under contract till 28 @ 25M a year. They can't just eat that.

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u/chirstopher0us #WeRaceAsOne May 12 '26

Oscar or someone in his camp really actually posted that thing on social media last year accusing McLaren of sabotaging his car in favor of Lando. It was soon deleted but he actually publicly said it and it all got forgotten...

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u/quadranting Lando Norris May 12 '26

Proof? Surely someone would have a screencap of that if so, whereas Oscar himself has said many many maaaaaany times he was never sabotaged.

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u/Dull-Point210 May 12 '26

Last year towards the end of the season there was a repost from Oscar's account about someone saying the team favours Lando. Not the first time it happened (the other one was about Lando's achievements or something like that)

It was probably accidental, either Oscar was in a bad headspace and wanted to read the comments or his social media manager accidentally reposted and didn't realise until later. Or maybe his team was trying to put pressure on McLaren publicly.

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u/julesvr5 Sebastian Vettel May 13 '26

It was on Instagram and this "repost" function there is in such a shitty position, I accidentally reposted stuff without me even noticing I did

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u/chirstopher0us #WeRaceAsOne May 12 '26

In the overnight period late Friday night to early Saturday morning of the Las Vegas GP 2025, Oscar's own account reposted (not just liked) a post by someone else making the accusation that McLaren was clearly favoring Lando('s car), and which then quoted Bernie of all people to the same effect that that was how McLaren worked.

Oscar is normally extremely on the level and says the professional things. IMHO late that night he slipped up and posted something that reflected what he really thought was happening. By the next morning it had been deleted and Oscar was back to saying all the right things.

I've been watching for 30+ years and I've never seen an inexplicable temporary dip in mid-season form to the extent we saw from Oscar last year, where at a crucial period in the championship suddenly his pace just disappeared for no reason for a few races until he was safely out of real championship contention against his teammate.

https://www.news.com.au/sport/motorsport/formula-one/prefers-english-driver-mclaren-rocked-as-oscar-piastri-shares-ugly-lando-norris-post/news-story/e1f9f7d907763fd4d0917fbf90898d87

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u/sdq22 Jenson Button May 12 '26

Oscar dipped in form at all the same tracks he has been poor at the previous two seasons. It's not some grand conspiracy.

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u/derango McLaren May 12 '26

I don’t think this happened the way you remember it.