The dust has barely settled on the 2025 Formula 1 season, but a seismic shockwave is already threatening to destabilize the paddock. In a revelation that has stunned fans and pundits alike, seven-time Grand Prix winner Juan Pablo Montoya has issued a stark guarantee: Oscar Piastri and his manager, Mark Webber, are actively in talks with other teams. This explosive claim comes just days after Lando Norris clinched his maiden World Championship, a triumph that seemingly came at the steep cost of his teammate’s trust and momentum.
A Season of Two Halves
To understand the gravity of Montoya’s assertion, one must look back at the rollercoaster that was Piastri’s 2025 campaign. The 24-year-old Australian talent started the year in imperious form, dominating the first half of the season with seven race victories. By the mid-season break, Piastri held a commanding 34-point lead over Norris and appeared destined for the crown. He was the man to beat—cool, calculated, and blistering fast.
However, the script flipped dramatically in the final third of the year. What should have been a march to glory turned into a nightmare collapse. Piastri failed to win a single race in the final nine rounds, a drought that saw his comfortable lead evaporate into a 13-point deficit by the time the checkered flag waved in Abu Dhabi. Not only did he lose the title to Norris, but he also slipped to third in the standings behind Max Verstappen.
According to Montoya, speaking in a candid interview with Grosvenor Casinos, this wasn’t just a slump in form—it was a symptom of a deeper fracture within the team.
The Monza Turning Point
The catalyst for this unraveling appears to be the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. In a move that violated the unwritten “status quo” of Formula 1 racing, McLaren ordered Piastri to move aside for Norris. The team justified the call as necessary to maintain parity, arguing that Norris had been disadvantaged by a slow pit stop earlier in the race.
For a driver leading the championship, the instruction was a bitter pill to swallow. Visibly unhappy, Piastri complied, but the psychological damage was done. The incident shattered the Aussie’s rhythm. In the subsequent round at Baku, usually a strong circuit for him, Piastri admitted Monza was “still playing on his mind.” The result was his worst weekend of the year, marred by two crashes and a false start.
The slide continued through the Americas triple-header, where struggles on low-grip surfaces saw him managing only fifth-place finishes. The momentum had shifted entirely to the other side of the garage, and with it, the team’s focus seemed to drift toward their homegrown hero, Lando Norris.
The Webber Factor: Scars of the Past?
Perhaps the most intriguing element of this saga is the role of Mark Webber. A former Red Bull star who famously battled—and often lost out to—Sebastian Vettel during their dominant run between 2009 and 2013, Webber knows all too well the sting of being the “number two” driver. His time at Red Bull was defined by internal politics and perceived favoritism toward Vettel, culminating in the infamous “Multi-21” saga.
Montoya suggests that Webber is seeing history repeat itself, this time with his protégé. “I guarantee you that Oscar Piastri and Mark Webber are already talking to another F1 team,” Montoya declared. “I don’t think Mark Webber was satisfied with Oscar’s development at McLaren. Mark isn’t very happy with McLaren.”
The concern is that Webber’s own “scars” are influencing the decision-making process. Is he hypersensitive to team dynamics that favor Norris, the driver McLaren has groomed since his junior days? Incidents like the Singapore Grand Prix, where Norris aggressively passed Piastri at the start without team intervention, have only fueled the narrative that Woking has chosen its favorite.
“They need to be careful and make sure that Webber’s scars from his time as a race car driver have nothing to do with Oscar’s career,” Montoya warned. It is a valid fear: is the management team protecting Piastri’s future, or reacting to ghosts from the past?
The “Nothing to Lose” Resurgence
Interestingly, Montoya pointed to Piastri’s performance in the final two races as proof that the issue was mental rather than physical. Once the title was mathematically out of reach or the pressure had peaked, Piastri’s speed suddenly returned.
“If you look at Oscar in the last two races, he finally turned things around,” Montoya observed. “His frustration was so great that he thought, ‘I have nothing to lose.’ And as soon as he thought that, the speed came back.”
This resurgence suggests that Piastri wasn’t lacking pace, but was perhaps constrained by the weight of expectations and the internal friction of a team trying to manage two alphas. Montoya was blunt in his advice to the young star: “You have to react faster. It’s a good lesson for him… he needs to figure out how to get the team to work better and faster around him.”
Where Could They Go?
If the rumors are true and Team Piastri is shopping around, the options are tantalizing but limited. Former F1 driver Johnny Herbert has weighed in, suggesting Red Bull Racing as a potential destination. However, partnering with Max Verstappen comes with its own set of perils—a challenge few drivers have survived intact.
Aston Martin also looms as a dark horse. With state-of-the-art facilities coming online at Silverstone and Fernando Alonso’s career inevitably nearing its twilight, Lawrence Stroll’s team could be looking for a future franchise driver to lead them into the new regulation era in 2026.
“The team that’s in the moment is McLaren and arguably Red Bull,” Herbert noted. “Those are the only places where you’re probably going to be able to win a world championship.”
McLaren’s Damage Control
Aware of the swirling rumors, McLaren CEO Zak Brown has moved quickly to steady the ship. Immediately following Norris’s title win, Brown publicly reaffirmed the team’s long-term commitment to Piastri, labeling him a future world champion who would win “multiple titles” with the team.
While these comments were intended to project unity, skeptics argue they sound like the words of a boss worried about losing a prized asset. If Piastri were to leave, it wouldn’t just be a driver change; it would be the loss of a generational talent who proved he could dominate the field in the first half of 2025.
The Verdict
As the F1 world heads into the winter break, the question marks over Piastri’s future hang heavy over Woking. The 2025 season gave McLaren their first Drivers’ Championship in decades, but it may have cost them the harmony of the most exciting driver pairing on the grid.
If Montoya is right, the negotiations are already happening behind closed doors. For Oscar Piastri, the choice is stark: stay and fight for his status in a team that just crowned his rival, or gamble on a fresh start elsewhere. One thing is certain—the 2026 season has already begun, and the first battle is being fought in the boardroom.