Image via oscarpiastri/Instagram
Australian Formula One driver Oscar Piastri is sticking with McLaren after reportedly signing a multi-year contract with his current team. This comes after his controversial start with the team in 2023, followed rapidly by the driver extending that initial contract to the end of 2026.
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Now it seems with his success McLaren was eager to get him into a new contract before the old one grew too stale. However, the F1 team declined to specify exactly how long the new contract will last, only saying when it was signed that it’s a “multi-year” deal.
At just 23-years-old, Piastri likely has his best years in F1 ahead of him, so keeping him onboard is a huge victory for McLaren. Considering he snagged two GP wins last year, one in Hungary and the other in Azerbaijan, that likely gave him additional leverage at the bargaining table.
“There are so many talented and special people working at MTC who have helped me to become a Formula 1 race winner very early in my career,” said Piastri. “Therefore, I’m very proud to be continuing to represent this legendary team for many years to come.”
With Piastri’s help, and his teammate Land Norris, McLaren has been on the rise lately. Last year, the team won the constructors’ championship, something it hadn’t done in 26 years. The hope is the team will see even greater success this season, at least repeating last season’s if not further improving.
McLaren is lucky to have Piastri after it had to fight Alpine in an ugly legal battle when the driver first signed on. Piastri participated in Alpine’s driver academy starting in 2020 thinking it had him locked in for F1, but he went another direction.
We imagine other teams have approached him about switching, but Piastri appears to be quite happy with his first and only F1 team, at least for the next few years.
Image via oscarpiastri/Instagram
