Tertius News is an AI-native newsroom: an AI model reads the source articles linked below — on this story, all of them from one outlet — and extracts what that outlet reported, claim by claim. How this works →

'A lot of fiction': Piastri's manager dismisses Verstappen swap rumours

Oscar Piastri's manager Mark Webber has dismissed speculation linking the McLaren driver with a move to Red Bull as 'nonsense' and 'fiction'. Piastri, who is contracted to McLaren until at least 2028, has also reaffirmed his commitment to the team amid ongoing F1 rumours.

By Tertius News AI Desk 1 outlet · 2 articles Version 1 Coverage Jul 2–11, 2026 Published Aug 15

Lead

Speculation that Oscar Piastri could leave McLaren for Red Bull has been dismissed by his manager, former Formula 1 driver Mark Webber, who described recent reporting as "nonsense" and "a lot of fiction". Webber's comments come as the rumour mill continues to swirl around both Piastri's future at McLaren and Red Bull driver Max Verstappen's potential exit from Formula 1.

Piastri, who is fourth in the drivers' championship after eight rounds this season, has repeatedly denied that he is leaving McLaren, and team principal Andrea Stella and CEO Zak Brown have also tried to hose down the speculation, according to reports from ABC Australia.

Coverage comparison

The latest coverage from ABC Australia reports that Piastri's manager Mark Webber gave an interview to RACER, in which he said that Piastri was focused on being with McLaren and dismissed much of the recent reporting as "nonsense". Webber was quoted as saying: "Oscar is contracted to McLaren for the foreseeable future. Talk of him agitating to leave is nonsense. There has been a lot of fiction written about him and other teams. McLaren have repeatedly said they want him for the long term and Oscar is focused on that."

Earlier reports from ABC Australia highlighted the ongoing speculation in the F1 community, including suggestions of a driver swap between McLaren and Red Bull that would involve Piastri and Verstappen. The coverage noted that Piastri, who is on a multi-year deal with McLaren, has denied leaving the team, while team principal Andrea Stella and McLaren CEO Zak Brown have also tried to cool the chatter.

The ABC also reported that during the British Grand Prix weekend, Piastri said he was committed to McLaren and believed the team was also committed to him moving forward. "I've got a contract in place, multiple reassurances that the team are very happy with me and I'm very happy with the team," the Melburnian said.

Key Claims

Piastri's commitment to McLaren: Piastri's manager Mark Webber dismissed speculation about Piastri leaving McLaren as "nonsense" and "a lot of fiction". Piastri himself stated he is committed to McLaren and believes the team is committed to him.
Contract length: Piastri is contracted to McLaren until at least the end of 2028 under a multi-year extension signed in 2025. McLaren has not specified the exact length but confirmed it keeps Piastri at the team for the long term.
Championship standing: Piastri is fourth in the drivers' championship after eight rounds, with 80 points, one point ahead of teammate Lando Norris and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.
Verstappen situation: Max Verstappen is under contract with Red Bull until 2028 with a potential release clause. He has been critical of the new power units in Formula 1, indicating his dissatisfaction with the new era of regulations.
Team denials: McLaren and Red Bull have both denied speculation about their driver line-ups, as reported by ABC Australia.

Perspectives

Piastri and his team

Piastri's camp, including his manager Mark Webber, strongly denies any intention to leave McLaren, emphasizing that Piastri is contracted and focused on the team. Piastri himself has repeatedly stated his commitment to McLaren, citing contractual reassurances and the team's reciprocal satisfaction.

McLaren leadership

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella and CEO Zak Brown have both publicly tried to dampen the speculation, reiterating that they want Piastri for the long term, according to reports from ABC Australia.

Red Bull and Max Verstappen

The speculation about a potential swap is partly driven by Verstappen's future being a hot topic all year, with the Dutchman expressing dissatisfaction with the new power unit regulations and indicating he might leave F1. However, those rumours appear to have subsided after a tweak in regulations, and Red Bull has denied speculation about its driver line-up.

How this outlet told it

ABC Australia as of Jul 2, 2026, 5:00 AM UTC

Framing: Speculation about Oscar Piastri's future at McLaren — Neutral

Facts Included:

Oscar Piastri is fourth in the drivers' championship after eight rounds
Piastri has a multi-year contract extension with McLaren until at least the end of 2028
Max Verstappen is under contract with Red Bull until 2028 with a potential release clause
Verstappen has been critical of the new power units in F1
McLaren and Red Bull have denied speculation about their driver line-ups

Read the source article →

ABC Australia as of Jul 11, 2026, 3:00 AM UTC

Framing: Oscar Piastri's commitment to McLaren — Neutral

Facts Included:

Oscar Piastri's manager Mark Webber has denied speculation about Piastri leaving McLaren
Piastri has stated he is committed to McLaren and believes the team is also committed to him
Max Verstappen has been critical of the new power units in F1
Verstappen has a potential release clause in his contract with Red Bull

Read the source article →

What was claimed, and who backed it

Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status counts the distinct outlets we found asserting it — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.

Claim	Confidence	Status
ClaimOscar Piastri is fourth in the drivers' championship after eight rounds.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via ABC Australia as of Jul 2, 2026, 5:00 AM UTC
ClaimPiastri has a multi-year contract extension with McLaren until at least the end of 2028.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via ABC Australia as of Jul 2, 2026, 5:00 AM UTC
ClaimMax Verstappen is under contract with Red Bull until 2028 with a potential release clause.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via ABC Australia as of Jul 2, 2026, 5:00 AM UTC
ClaimVerstappen has been critical of the new power units in F1.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via ABC Australia as of Jul 2, 2026, 5:00 AM UTC
ClaimMcLaren and Red Bull have denied speculation about their driver line-ups.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via ABC Australia as of Jul 2, 2026, 5:00 AM UTC
ClaimOscar Piastri's manager Mark Webber has denied speculation about Piastri leaving McLaren.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via ABC Australia as of Jul 11, 2026, 3:00 AM UTC
ClaimPiastri has stated he is committed to McLaren and believes the team is also committed to him.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via ABC Australia as of Jul 11, 2026, 3:00 AM UTC

Transparency & Audit Trail

1 outlet · 2 articles consulted: ABC Australia 7 claims extracted Version 1 Written 2026-08-15