SPA, Belgium — Oscar Piastri says he feels “very comfortable” with his position at McLaren and will be racing for the team next year despite its recent links with Max Verstappen.Ahead of last month’s Austrian Grand Prix, it emerged that Verstappen’s camp had approached McLaren for a conversation about a potential future race seat for the four-time world champion.Zak Brown, McLaren Racing’s CEO, said at the following race at Silverstone that talks “didn’t go anywhere” as both Piastri and Lando Norris, his world champion teammate, are under long-term contracts with the team.That failed to prevent another round of speculation linking Verstappen with a shock move from Red Bull to McLaren as early as next year in the lead-up to this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix at Spa.But Piastri offered a straightforward response when he was asked on Thursday if he would be racing for McLaren next year.“Yes,” Piastri said, his initial one-word reply sparking some chuckles among the assembled reporters. “I didn’t realise it was a point of contention, but yes.”Piastri penned his latest long-term deal with McLaren on the eve of the 2025 season, and led the majority of last year’s world championship before ultimately finishing third, 10 points shy of Norris in the final standings.In an exclusive interview with The Athletic in May, Piastri stressed his belief that he can become world champion in the future with McLaren, while Brown also expressed faith in the Australian to achieve that goal in a McLaren car.Asked by The Athletic on Thursday at Spa if he’d found the noise surrounding his future ahead of Spa unsettling at all, Piastri said he’d “obviously seen some of it and heard some of it” but felt “very comfortable with where I am and where I sit.”Piastri added: “Zak and Andrea (Stella, McLaren’s team principal) and the whole team have been great through all that, very reassuring. I’ve been the same for them.“Clearly, Max is feeling… I don’t know, maybe he’s not in a great position at the moment, or exploring options. It was the same thing last year with him and Mercedes, so it’s nothing new.“But I’m very happy with where I’m at, where things are at, and how it’s all going.”Verstappen is yet to publicly confirm his plans for next year. Although he is under contract with Red Bull to the end of 2028, the team has struggled for performance this year, leaving the Dutchman seventh in the drivers’ championship with just two podium finishes to his name.Such a low championship position could allow Verstappen to trigger an exit clause in his Red Bull contract and leave him free to explore options away from the team if he desires.Verstappen is contract at Red Bull until 2028 (Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images)During Thursday’s FIA news conference, Verstappen stated there was no update to give on his future and that he made “nothing” of the recent speculation. He also deflected a question about having a date in mind to make a decision, saying there was “nothing to say from my side.”It was not until the end of July last year that Verstappen went on record to say he would be staying at Red Bull for 2026, moving to end speculation at the Hungarian Grand Prix ahead of the summer break.Verstappen has always maintained he would be the one to provide an update on his future, and reiterated that point when asked on Thursday if he would be driving for Red Bull next year.“I don’t want to go here and say yes or no, and this and that, about my future,” Verstappen said. “I’ve said already many times that if there was something new, I would say it myself.”