Piastri shrugs off Verstappen rumours in his quest for first F1 title

09:34, 18 Jul

byKada Sarkozi

On Wednesday, news came out that Red Bull Racing would not block Max Verstappen's transfer to another team, should the Dutchman decide to leave. Current championship leader Oscar Piastri is not too bothered about the rumours.

While Max Verstappen would like to stay with Red Bull Racing, two key factors are influencing the defending world champion's decision about his future.

One has been completed with the dismissal of Christian Horner, but the team has to show steps forward performance-wise as well.

Rumoured transfer is not of Piastri's concern

The Australian driver doesn't believe Verstappen is distracted or that the situation is helping McLaren in the title race.

"I don't think next year is really of concern for me. It's obviously something for him to manage and I don't think it will distract him necessarily," he began to GPblog among others.

"I think in the championship, I'm not really concerned with what Max is doing or how many points behind he is. I think he'll be a threat every weekend or most weekends and I think that's why you can't rule him out," he explained.

"I think whether the car has the pace or not, we don't know, but ultimately I go into each weekend trying to just do the best that I can and worry about that."

"So I'm not that bothered where he is in the championship. He is obviously a bit further back now. It's quite a big advantage to claw back, but I'm not that concerned either way," the McLaren driver concluded.

After the British Grand Prix, the Australian remains in the lead of the drivers' standings in Formula 1. He has collected 8 more points than his teammate, Lando Norris so far, and he is 69 points ahead of Verstappen.

Talking to a gambling site, 1992 world champion Nigel Mansell says the title fight will be between the two McLaren drivers. The Briton did not mention Verstappen at all when talking about who is in contention for the championship.