“It was quite a bold move from Oscar Piastri to refuse Alpine”– Pierre Gasly surprised by F2 champion refusing French giants for 2023 seat
Pierre Gasly is surprised by the current F2 champion refusing a seat with Alpine as they were ready to replace Fernando Alonso with him.
The 2022 season has been the craziest for Alpine in the drivers’ market. The unprecedented Aston Martin switch by the two-time world champion left the French team puzzled before they could scout for a replacement.
Though, their safe bet was obviously Oscar Piastri. The current F2 champion and their reserve driver sacrificed a performative year just to remain in the Alpine setup. So, it was thought that loyalty must be rewarded.
Alpine announced that they would be promoting the Australian race driver for 2023. But this is where the chaos began. Many F1 fans that something was fishy, as the Piastri announcement didn’t even include a quote by the young sensation, especially when it was supposed to be his debut in F1.
Soon, Piastri on social media called out for announcing him without his consent. And was followed by him saying that he won’t be competing for them in 2023. These words surely sent some shockwaves on the internet that night.
Meanwhile, Pierre Gasly, who’s now in contention to replace Alonso, believes that it was brave of Piastri to publicly refuse Alpine like that. He confessed that he was quite surprised by it.
“It’s more at the time, I thought it was quite a bold move from Oscar, to refuse an F1 seat when you know how difficult it can be to get there and being affiliated with Alpine,” said Gasly as per the Race. “So I was just quite surprised with his move.”
Oscar Piastri was in bed with McLaren all along
Surely, Alpine wasn’t going away with such embarrassment. While Piastri didn’t extend his contract with Alpine, the French F1 team argued that the Australian had an obligation considering that Alpine invested so much in him.
Therefore, Alpine even threatened to go to court and seek compensation from Piastri. Soon, the FIA got involved, urged Alpine not to go to court, and resolved the matter with the Contract Recognition Board (CRB).
While the verdict is awaited, it’s in public knowledge that Alpine has decided to move away from Piastri. On the other hand, for months, the Australian and his agent Mark Webber talked with Mclaren, who wanted to replace another Australian, Daniel Ricciardo.
A busy day at the track today and much to talk about, but the F1 world is still awaiting the CRB’s verdict on @OscarPiastri. Sources suggest both @AlpineF1Team and @McLarenF1 presented strong cases, so it might be a close run thing. There’s a lot at stake…
— Adam Cooper (@adamcooperF1) September 1, 2022
Last week only, Alpine boss Otmar Szafnauer was spotted heading out of McLaren’s office. Thus, making it apparent that some talks between the two teams were already happening.
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