Oscar gets green light for test
OSCAR Piastri is free to officially start preparations for the launch of his Formula One career with McLaren after Alpine agreed to release the Australian young gun from his contract.
McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl and Alpine counterpart Otmar Szafnauer confirmed the teams had agreed to a deal that would allow Piastri to take part in the official end-ofseason test in Abu Dhabi.
After signing at McLaren to replace Daniel Ricciardo, the Melbourne racer was shelved by Alpine, which elected to put junior driver and fellow Australian Jack Doohan in the car for the first of its mandatory practice sessions at the Mexican Grand Prix.
The early contract release allowed Piastri to conduct a private test in McLaren’s 2021 car in France last week before the young driver test after next week’s seasonending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, when he will drive McLaren’s 2022 car.
“I can confirm that, in the end, we reached a settlement agreement with all parties involved,” Seidl said.
“(That) enables us then as well to put him in the current car at the young driver test in Abu Dhabi, which is something we are very much looking forward to. (It is) great for us and for Oscar.”
The agreement closes the chapter on a messy end to Piastri’s time with Alpine.
The drama started when Alpine announced he would be replacing Fernando Alonso before the 21-yearold shot down the announcement on social media.
It later emerged Piastri had signed an agreement to race with McLaren, with the situation referred to Formula One’s Contract Recognition Board, which ruled in McLaren’s favour.
Szafnauer said with the season coming to an end the time had come to allow Piastri, who had been a part of the Alpine family since the start of 2020, to start his career with McLaren.
“It was time to come to an agreement and we did and we’re happy that Oscar can start his McLaren career after the last race in Abu Dhabi and do the test and we’ll be doing the same with Pierre (Gasly),” he said.
Seidl said it was hard to read too much into Piastri’s on-track performance in the team’s old car last week, but taking part in the postseason test would be crucial.
“It’s obviously a very important test for us to get an initial read from Oscar’s side as well on our car and give him an initial feeling,” he said.
“We want to try as hard as we can together with Oscar, that the first race in Bahrain next year actually doesn’t feel like it’s the first race for him in Formula One.”