Oscar Piastri tipped for shock Mercedes talks as F1 insider eliminates Ferrari prospect

F1 commentator and journalist Nelson Valkenburg has claimed that Oscar Piastri's camp would spark up talks with Mercedes rather than Ferrari. He argued that if the Mercedes engine was going to be as strong as anticipated in the upcoming regulations reset, then the Aussie side would like to move to Brackley instead of Maranello.

Piastri was recently linked to a move to Ferrari after his manager, Mark Webber, had recommended the current championship leader to improve his Italian. Along with the papaya rules saga going down in the McLaren camp, a move to join the prancing horses, if one of the seats opens up at Maranello, seemed to be a likely possibility.

However, with initial signs in the paddock pointing towards Mercedes having the lead in the engine department yet again and Ferrari seemingly stepping on its toes, Valkenburg thinks otherwise. He suggests that the German giant should be the destination that Piastri's camp would be assessing and would want to hold talks with, as he said on the Nailing the Apex podcast:

"The interesting part is maybe not Ferrari, but let’s assume the Mercedes engine is as good as we all think it’s going to be. He is a whole lot cheaper than Max Verstappen for Mercedes, and that is all in the long run, of course, but I think personally Piastri would prefer not to go, but beat them [McLaren] against the odds if they feel it’s against them at McLaren." (7:02 onwards) "I think they’ve sort of been, not unlucky, but they’ve been a little naive, McLaren, and this whole Kumbaya mentality doesn’t work. It’s like a forced equality in a sport that isn’t equal, and it has bitten them now for sure. I don’t think Piastri will cut and run, but if there’s a moment that it’s unsustainable, then I don’t think it’s Ferrari, assuming the Mercedes engine is better, I think it’s Mercedes that they will be talking to."

Meanwhile, Oscar Piastri has a 22-point cushion heading into the United States Grand Prix.

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Oscar Piastri wants to maximize the upcoming race weekend to help his championship chances

Oscar Piastri celebrating McLaren's constructors' championship victory after the 2025 F1 Grand Prix of Singapore - Source: Getty

Oscar Piastri has been leading the drivers' championship since the Saudi Arabian GP. Moreover, after winning the Dutch GP, he had increased his championship lead to 34 points as Lando Norris retired from that race.

But, since then, he has lost several markers to both Norris and Max Verstappen in the title fight, bringing his advantage down to 22 points over the Briton and 63 points over the reigning champion. With him not extending his lead over the pair even once in the last three weekends, he aims to break this streak of subpar results in Texas, as he said ahead of the race weekend (via McLaren):

"I’m focused totally on performance and extracting the maximum from both races."

Oscar Piastri has six race weekends to defend his championship lead and bag his maiden F1 drivers' title.

Edited by Geetansh Pasricha