McLaren’s Oscar Piastri recently competed against Alpine’s Esteban Ocon in an RC race ahead of the Japanese GP this weekend. However, it was not the race that made the headlines. Instead, it was the Australian’s reaction to Alpine’s post on their social media handle. Via his reaction to the post, Piastri reminded Alpine of his year-old feud with the French outfit.
Alpine on their Instagram handle put up a simple post to show how Piastri and Ocon are “warming up” for this weekend’s race in Suzuka. Once Piastri saw this post, he hilariously replied, “@alpinef1team had my permission for this“.
The 22-year-old’s reply is nothing short of hilarious as he, Alpine, and McLaren were involved in a fiasco for most of the 2022 season. The Enstone team had initially put up a post to reveal that they had signed Piastri. However, the Australian replied to the post and made it clear that Alpine had revealed the same without his agreement.
Back then, Piastri had infamously posted on social media, “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“.
It was following Piastri’s shocking post that he, Alpine, and McLaren got involved in a legal battle. According to reports, the 22-year-old had already signed a deal with McLaren when Alpine announced him as their driver.
As a result, there was a possibility that the Australian would have had to pay Alpine $10 million. So, the question is why did Piastri not sign for Alpine?
Why did Oscar Piastri snub Alpine for McLaren?
Oscar Piastri served Alpine as the team’s reserve driver for the entirety of the 2022 season. Although the French outfit was keen to promote him when Fernando Alonso announced that he would be leaving the team, it was too late by then.
Reports emerged that the Australian had already signed a contract with McLaren by then. There were speculations that the 22-year-old did not see him having a bright future at Alpine, and hence, chose to leave the team.
However, because of the agreement Piastri had with Alpine, the French outfit believed that the Australian driver could not snub them for McLaren. As a result, Alpine approached the Contract Regulation Board (CRB). However, the CRB gave their decision in favor of McLaren, which meant that Piastri could race for them in 2023.
That was not the end of Alpine’s troubles though. As per the verdict of the CRB, Alpine also had to pay McLaren’s legal fees. According to a report, the French team paid McLaren ($300,000) and Piastri ($120,000) a total of $420,000.
