McLAREN AND ALPINE BEGIN BATTLE OVER OSCAR PIASTRI’S SERVICES FOR 2023
Australian rising star in a tug-of-love between two teams over his destination for next season
Up-and-coming racer Oscar Piastri is at the centre of a bitter row that has erupted over the last seven days in a silly season controversy between Alpine, the 21-year-old driver and McLaren.
Shuffling in the 2023 driver line-up was sparked when Alpine driver Fernando Alonso announced that he had signed for Aston Martin for next term. Alpine put out an announcement on Tuesday last week that it would promote its test driver Piastri to the race seat alongside Esteban Ocon, who has a long-term deal with French team.
Piastri, an FIA F3 and F2 champion, put out a statement on social media refuting that he had inked a deal. In a tweet, he said: “I understand that, without my agreement, Alpine F1 have put out a press release late this afternoon that
I am driving for them next year. This is wrong and I have not signed a contract with Alpine for 2023. I will not be driving for Alpine next year.”
Alpine has reacted angrily to this, and has stated that it believes it has a legally binding deal for Piastri, who has been a Renault Young Driver since 2020, to remain with the squad.
If Alonso had remained with Alpine, it is thought that the French firm would have made a commitment to place the younger driver with another team, possibly Williams.
Piastri’s statement has also strengthened rumours that he will cut ties with Alpine and instead head to McLaren to take over the race seat from Daniel Ricciardo in 2023. Ricciardo’s slump in form in 2022 has been under the spotlight and it is thought that the current driver would take a pay-off to release him from the last 12 months of his race deal and that would allow Piastri to step into his shoes.