Flattered Piastri shuts down talk of move from McLaren

Oscar Piastri has been quick to shut down growing suggestions that his management team are manoeuvring for him to make a move from McLaren to Red Bull.

The rumours were sparked when Helmut Marko, Red Bull's senior advisor, told the F1 Insider website that Mark Webber, the former Australian F1 star who's now Piastri's manager, was "intensively" pushing for negotiations with the Austrian world champions.

But Piastri, whose serene progress in just his second year in the F1 ranks has quickly made him one of the most admired drivers on the grid, wasted no time in dismissing the speculation while in Mexico City for the Mexican Grand Prix.

"It wouldn't be a week in F1 without some comments from Helmut," Piastri told reporters with an airy put-down of the octogenarian Austrian Marko, who is, indeed, famed for his often outspoken comments.

"It's a nice compliment, I would say. But again, I'm very happy with where I am. They (Red Bull) have quite a big pool of drivers that they can choose from if they want."

Max Verstappen, Red Bull's world champion and current F1 championship leader, is another within their team who's made it clear how much of a fan he is of the 23-year-old Melburnian Piastri, who's lying fourth in the F1 standings this season with two victories already under his belt.

Along with his English teammate Lando Norris, who's second in the championship behind Verstappen, Piastri has also helped his British team McLaren to the top of the constructors' standings, ahead of the two-time defending champs Red Bull by 40 points.

Red Bull's interest also comes at a time when the immediate future of their No.2 driver Sergio Perez is still up in the air with the Mexican having endured a difficult season, currently lying eighth in the standings.

Piastri, whose stand-out performance in his second season was his drive in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix where he overtook Charles Leclerc then held the Ferrari driver at bay en route to his second win of the season, has been enjoying a spectacular run of form over the past four months.

Starting at the Austrian Grand Prix at the end of June, Piastri has finished second, fourth, first, second, fourth, second, first, fourth and fifth.