6 days ago
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Oscar Piastri is eyeing up a potential move away from McLaren, a report has claimed.
The Australian driver, who currently leads McLaren team-mate Lando Norris by 22 points in the Drivers' Standings, is fighting to win his first ever F1 world title at the Woking-based constructor.
And after McLaren claimed its second successive Constructors' Championship at the Singapore Grand Prix last weekend, with Norris and Piastri crossing the chequered flag in third and fourth respectively, all attention has now turned to the pair's fierce battle for the title which Max Verstappen has dominated four years in a row.
As he gears up for a crucial final sector of the F1 season, Piastri is reportedly already weighing up his future at McLaren in a move that would send shockwaves across the sport.
According to Swiss newspaper Blick, Piastri is eyeing up a switch to Ferrari in 2027 — amid doubt over the long-terms futures of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.
Both Scuderia drivers are set to enter their final seasons at the constructor next year, and this could potentially pave an opening or two at one of the sport's most attractive F1 teams.
Championship leader Oscar Piastri is reportedly eyeing up a shock move away from McLaren
Piastri is set to go head-to-head with McLaren team-mate Lando Norris (left) for the world title after the Woking-based team won successive Constructors Championships last week
The Australian is reportedly weighing up a potential move to Ferrari in 2027, amid doubts over the futures of Scuderia drivers Lewis Hamilton (left) and Charles Leclerc (right)
The outlet also claims that former McLaren driver Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon would leap at the opportunity to join a 'top team', despite being content at working on Williams Racing's long-term project as it stands.
Seven-time world champion Hamilton has endured a difficult debut season at Ferrari since his bombshell exit from Mercedes, which climaxed at the Spanish Grand Prix when the Brit astonishingly invited Scuderia to sack him from his £60million-a-year deal after admitting he was 'useless' amid a rough patch of form.
Speculation of an early exit for Hamilton was quelled in August after the F1 great committed to continuing in the Ferrari cockpit, admitting he was optimistic about turning a page following the summer break.
His former Mercedes team-mate George Russell, meanwhile, snorted at the suggestion Hamilton might quit and urged he was 'talking utter nonsense'.
Despite McLaren dominating most of the first half of the season, with Piastri and Norris regularly securing 1-2 finishes on race weekends, momentum has shifted slightly in favour of Red Bull and Mercedes recently.
McLaren, who now no longer hold a sizeable advantage over their rivals, are set to be forced with a series of difficult team strategy decisions as they attempt to balance each driver chasing their own world title dreams.
The Italian Grand Prix last month brought about McLaren's most controversial team orders of the season when the pit wall opted to keep Norris and Piastri out on track while Max Verstappen was leading, in the hope of profiting from a late safety car.
Eventually deciding to pit the Australian so that he would come out ahead of Leclerc, who was closing the gap to Piastri, McLaren staged the quickest stop of the race to give their driver a 4.5 second advantage over the Monegasque.
Piastri currently leads McLaren team-mate Norris by 22 points in the Drivers' Championships
When Norris pitted, a problem with the changing of his left tyre led to the driver losing position to Piastri after he reemerged on the track — and the team subsequently told the world championship leader to give the place back two laps later, reducing his lead in the standings to 31 points.
The incident could have a major impact on the outcome of this year's world title, given Norris has since closed the gap by nine more points.
