On August 2, 2022, Oscar Piastri announced that he did not sign a contract to drive for Alpine for the 2023 F1 season. This wreaked havoc in the F1 fraternity, as the Australian driver’s revelation kickstarted an off-track battle between Alpine and McLaren regarding his services. Now, a year after Piastri’s ‘betrayal’, Otmar Szafnauer is still unimpressed with the former. This comes even after the McLaren driver showcased his brilliance over the course of the last few weeks.
Additionally, one has to take into account the valiant efforts put in by the 22-year-old during his junior racing days. So, Szafnauer’s rampant criticism of Piastri has been quite a revelation for others to note.
Piastri’s decision to betray Alpine led to a legal battle between the French team and McLaren. For this, Szafnauer’s stance on the Melbourne-born driver’s talent may be biased. Nevertheless, for the Romanian-American, Lando Norris is the clear leader at McLaren.
Otmar Szafnauer is not impressed with Oscar Piastri
Even after some sparky performances in the last few races leading up to the season break, Szafnauer is certainly not convinced by Piastri’s abilities. This is because he believes Norris in the same car has performed better. Piastri, also, being in a rival team changes the way Szafnauer thinks about him.
According to Soy Motor, the 58-year-old said to Beyond the Grid podcast, “I am happy for my drivers when they do well. He is a rival and I am not happy when he finishes fourth.”
Following this, he added, “I have nothing against him. But we are racing against them and I am the one who wants to finish fourth. The McLaren car was good. But Lando finished second in the same car and showed everything he could do.”
Szafnauer’s stint at Alpine was surely affected by the saga involving Piastri. However, the 58-year-old remained adamant that he has nothing against the young rookie.
Alpine’s fight against McLaren for Piastri
After Piastri announced on social media that he is not under any contract to drive for Alpine following Fernando Alonso’s departure at the end of last season, Alpine and McLaren entered a legal battle.
As Daniel Ricciardo was shown the exit door and Piastri had an active interest in the papaya team, they resorted to legal means to sort out the matter. Ultimately, the Woking-based team won the legal battle. As a result, Alpine lost multi-million dollars spent on the driver’s training for months.
Furthermore, they also lost the case by appealing against it, despite their best efforts. However, for now, Szafnauer won’t be worrying much about the incident, because he parted ways with Alpine, after the Belgian GP weekend.
