Horner: Red Bull missed opportunity to sign Piastri

Oscar Piastri is considered one of the greatest talents in racing. Next season, the Australian will make his debut on behalf of McLaren, having been Alpine's reserve driver in recent seasons. Now it appears that Piastri just might have been a Red Bull junior, had the Austrian team been at least a little more active.

Christian Horner was a guest on the podcast Beyond the Grid. There he talked about Piastri, and admitted the Red Bull team boss once there was an opportunity to capture him. “He drove for the Arden team in Formula 4 and Formula Renault, and was obviously a significant talent,” said Horner. “There was an opportunity for Red Bull to look at him at the time, and we didn’t take up that option, which is something that I regret. But what he went on to achieve is phenomenal, in Formula 3 and Formula 2."

Different situation

Alpine had Piastri under contract for years, but did not let him race last year. Had the youngster been under contract with Red Bull, his situation would have been completely different. Horner indicated that Red Bull would undoubtedly have found a race seat for Piastri somewhere. Horner does not want to form any further opinion on how Alpine dealt with Piastri.

In any case, Red Bull itself continues to invest in talented drivers. “We’re continuing to invest in youth, we’ve got some great youngsters in the programme, all the way from karting and stepping into Formula 4 now, upwards,” Horner said.