A fascinating rumour about Oscar Piastri is swirling around the Formula 1 world just ahead of the sport’s return to action this weekend in Austin.
Red Bull’s Dr Helmut Marko recently hinted that Liam Lawson has been placed next to Yuki Tsunoda for the remainder of the season at the junior RB squad as a head-to-head to potentially replace Sergio Perez for 2025.
Lawson will be on the back foot for his return this weekend due to needing to take a grid penalty for a new engine.
"But there are still five races after that, then we will see and evaluate how it goes," Marko, the energy drink brand’s powerful F1 consultant, told motorsport-magazin.com.
"We know that Checo has fluctuations in form and that he has a harder time when the car is constantly changing technically," he added.
This weekend, Red Bull Racing’s 2024 car will have a significant upgrade, including a new floor, and Marko said: "The circuits coming up now clearly suit him (Perez) better and we hope that he will stabilise."
But could another driver also be in the running to potentially replace the Mexican?
"I do not think it’s impossible that Oscar Piastri will go to Red Bull next year to replace Sergio Perez," former F1 driver Christian Fittipaldi said on the Pelas Pistas podcast.
"Piastri may be getting a bit tired of the situation at McLaren," he added.
Indeed, Marko has been openly talking about "all top drivers" having exit clauses in their contracts lately - and Piastri, 23, is managed by Mark Webber - who remains close to the Red Bull family.
This week, Marko questioned the "mental" strength of Piastri’s teammate Lando Norris, who is Max Verstappen’s closest rival for the 2024 title.
And yet, it is the young Australian who is now facing more of a supportive ’number 2’ role for the rest of the championship fight. "He may well say ’Thanks for all your help, but I’m going to think about myself’," said Fittipaldi.
Marko admits that Piastri’s role in supporting Norris is a disadvantage for Red Bull and Verstappen. "Unfortunately, that is true," said the 81-year-old Austrian.
"He can take a lot of points from Max, while people expect less from Checo. But I am not so sure that Piastri is very happy with his role as second driver and whether he wants to simply accept that," added Marko.