‘Could definitely work’: Fresh Piastri-Red Bull links as shock paddock rumour emerges

Setting, and maintaining, a total level playing field for two drivers seeking a maiden world championship is one thing.

You wonder what it looks like when one driver is a world champion, and the other thinks they should be.

That is the potential scenario facing McLaren next year with Piastri undoubtedly a driver of championship-winning ilk, but without the evidential hardware Norris now boasts.

Granted there is no guarantee McLaren contends at all in 2026 with a new era of regulations— lighter cars, increased battery power and active aerodynamics — set to wipe the slate clean. For what it’s worth, it’s been a longstanding rumour in F1 this season that Mercedes is poised to lead initially with the best power unit in development.

Either way, harmony within McLaren and the longevity of Papaya Rules already shapes as one of the most intriguing plot lines of the 2026 season.

The regulation slate may be wiped clean next year, but the same cannot be done for the Norris-Piastri rivalry which carries into next season every piece of baggage accrued this season.

Given only Norris sips champagne, it’s obvious who will do most of that heavy lifting.

It should be noted that the most substantial errors that cost Piastri the title in 2025 were his own.

His off-track excursion in Australia cost him at least 16 points — potentially 23 given he was putting pressure on the leading Norris — while he had three DNFs; in Baku, and in the sprint races of Brazil and Austin.

These all might’ve come with varying levels of mitigating circumstances but, ultimately, Piastri had some power to prevent all four blows.

But what stings more are the times that Piastri was on the wrong side of Papaya Rules, stewards’ rulings, or just dumb luck.

There was the aforementioned incident in Monza, the Qatar safety car disaster, the impact of the controversial penalty in Silverstone that McLaren did nothing to equalise, and strategy calls in Hungary and Imola that benefited Norris, not Piastri.

It’s a lengthy rap sheet and, without it, it’s undeniable that Piastri would’ve been world champion, even with the errors of Australia, Azerbaijan, Texas and Brazil.

That’s why F1 broadcaster Will Buxton described 2025 as a landmark year for Piastri, but one which sparks a big question for the future.

“(He was) The championship leader and favourite for so much of the tour in just his third season. Could and arguably should have been champion,” Buxton posted to X.

“I do wonder how the net total of the receipts he will have kept on team decisions will influence his next steps.”

Piastri leaving McLaren in the wake of the 2025 season is a theoretical that was raised well before Abu Dhabi.

Speaking on the Red Flags podcast, former Haas team boss Guenther Steiner said last month that Piastri should leave, especially if he doesn’t win the title.

“I think he has a good chance to get in any other good car. He’s a good driver. And change sometimes is good. He’s young enough; he can adapt to it. He should, and I think he will,” he said.

It’s hard to see how Piastri clears out of Woking in a hurry even if he wanted to. The 2026 grid is already confirmed in full, with Piastri himself contracted to McLaren until at least 2028. Doors can only open, in theory, the following year.

Russell and Kimi Antonelli’s continuity at Mercedes beyond 2026 is believed to be tied to performance-related clauses, while the job of being Verstappen’s teammate remains a year-by-year proposition. Isack Hadjar is the latest to test his might against the poisoned chalice.

Elsewhere, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc are tied to vague “multi-year deals” at Ferrari, but given the gruelling year experienced by the former, there’s a world in which the 40-year-old doesn’t see it through.

Meanwhile, Aston Martin remains a sleeping giant with drivers Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll not yet guaranteed of spots in 2027.

Should the team explode into becoming a frontrunner under the guidance of Adrian Newey, then expect drivers to be lining up for a shot.

Verstappen is one name who has already been heavily linked in recent times amid a period of unrest before the departure of Christian Horner. Now with his key ally Helmut Marko retiring and uncertainty over the preparedness of Ford’s power units, there is the potential for rumblings to remerge should Red Bull struggle under the new regulations.

Any move would in theory open a spot at Red Bull. But you imagine after a championship-worthy performance, Piastri’s position would also be monitored by Aston Martin should they need a driver.

Leaving McLaren, of course, would be a massive gamble — and one that could backfire spectacularly.

Daniel Ricciardo serves as a notable cautionary tale here. He left Red Bull at the end of 2018, only to see Verstappen become a four-time world champion — nearly five-time — before the end of 2025.

Ricciardo is now retired from F1 following occasionally great, but mainly middling, stays at Renault, McLaren, and Racing Bulls.

Nonetheless, when it comes to teammates who lose in a intra-team title battle, F1’s history is simply too harrowing to ignore. The category does not kindly treat the driver that’s been defeated.

Nico Rosberg serves as the only modern example of a driver winning his own world championship after time served as the team’s conquered.

Even that took its toll. Rosberg played second fiddle to Hamilton in 2014 and 2015 before narrowly winning in 2016 and promptly retiring.

Elsewhere, being at Red Bull has ended careers in equal measure with making them. Sergio Perez was turfed out after 2024. Before him at Milton Keynes, Mark Webber never got the better of Sebastian Vettel, who sent the Australian into retirement with four wins of his own.

Earlier, serving alongside Fernando Alonso, Michael Schumacher and Mika Hakkinen did not lead their teammates to a title-winning future.

The closest you get in the past 40 years is Alain Prost winning the 1989 world championship in reply to McLaren teammate Ayrton Senna winning in 1988. Even then, the Frenchman was already a world champion by the deeds of his 1985 and 1986.

And so, are there pastures greener for Piastri? Surely the question at least has to be asked.

But for the time being, Piastri hinted at the battles of the immediate future being at McLaren, and against Norris, with the pairing set to enter its fourth year together.

“It has been a fun challenge. Obviously at certain points maybe it doesn’t feel that fun but I think it has been a really enjoyable season for both of us probably and I’m saying that as the person who’s not champion,” Piastri said.

“I’ve learnt plenty of things along the way. Even the last three years I’ve learnt things every weekend from what Lando does and it’s nice to know that it goes both ways.

“There are plenty of years to come of intense weekends and tight battles but, ultimately, I think that has made both of us better drivers and, in some ways, contributed to the success both of us have had this year.”