Australian driver Oscar Piastri has revealed he will not race Alpine in Formula 1 next season, just over an hour after the team said he would replace Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.
Piastri, the reigning Formula 2 champion, has been part of Alpine’s driving academy for four years, but has other plans for his future.
During a notable event in F1’s driving market, Piastri tweeted: “I understand that, without my consent, Alpine F1 has issued a press release this afternoon that I will be driving. for them next year.
“This is wrong and I have not signed with Alpine for 2023. I will not be driving for Alpine next year.”
Multiple sources have revealed to ESPN that Piastri has pre-contracted with McLaren, Alpine’s direct rival for fourth in this year’s constructors’ championship.
While the exact terms of that deal are unclear, with Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo signed to run for the team next season, Piastri’s tweet is a clear sign that he sees his future with McLaren rather than Alpine.
McLaren seems to be counting on the fact that it could move on from Ricciardo, who has a watertight contract until the end of 2023.
Ricciardo recently reaffirm his commitment to find that contract and correct poor form led McLaren CEO Zak Brown to consider other options.
McLaren also recently added IndyCar’s Colton Herta, Pato O’Ward and Alex Palou to its driver lineup.
McLaren has no options in Riccio’s contract to terminate his contract, but the eight-time race winner has no withdrawal clause on his side and he could also see a return to Alpine – where he raced when it was called Renault between 2019 and 2020 – was a viable option if McLaren had decided to buy the Piastri.
Although a legal battle is likely, Alpine faces the prospect of losing the two-time world champion and a driver many see as a future world champion in the 48-hour space. .
That would be especially painful for Piastri. If the Australians succeed in getting to McLaren, Alpine will lose the significant investment they’ve made in Piastri’s career, including the ongoing 5,000km testing of F1 machinery.
On Monday, Alonso covered Alpine’s eyes by signing a multi-year deal to replace the soon-to-retire Sebastian Vettel at Aston Martin, despite telling the team during construction and in the hours following the Hungarian Grand Prix that he plans to sign a contract extension with the team for 2023 including an option for 2024.
The fact that Alpine wanted to keep Alonso at least one more contract is what convinced Piastri and his manager, former Red Bull driver Mark Webber, to explore other options.
Team boss Otmar Szafnauer found out about Alonso’s decision through the press release Aston Martin sent out on Monday morning.
According to Szafnauer, he was unable to get hold of Alonso because the Spaniard was on holiday on a yacht in the Greek islands.
The saga around Piastri looks to be the second driver contract dispute McLaren is about to get involved, having recently signed Alex Palou for its IndyCar team despite Chip Ganassi saying he’s signed to race for them next year.
