F1 is currently having its off-season and the drivers are spending time with their families and friends to enjoy the festivities. A few days before Christmas, McLaren issued a gift-wrapping challenge to both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. While wrapping some presents, the Australian revealed the best Christmas gift he ever received was a Fernando Alonso race suit. The 22-year-old brought up the same to make the Spaniard “feel old“.
Since 42-year-old Alonso made his F1 debut in 2001, Piastri was not even born at the time. Alonso’s first race in F1 was the Australian Grand Prix in March 2001. Meanwhile, Piastri was born in April of that same year.
Hence, Piastri’s recent remarks about receiving merchandise involving Alonso as a Christmas gift during his childhood days definitely make the Spaniard seem old. Moreover, the first kart that Piastri had was also a Fernando Alonso kart. Interestingly, the two also worked together at Alpine before Piastri made his full F1 debut with McLaren this season.
The Australian was Alpine’s reserve driver last season while Alonso drove for the team until the end of last year. While Alonso moved to Aston Martin this season, Piastri had his own controversial contractual saga with Alpine right before 2023.
Oscar Piastri was involved in a massive controversial saga with Alpine
Oscar Piastri grabbed all the headlines in the middle of last season after he shockingly denied that Alpine had issued a press release without his consent. He put out a post to deny the French outfit’s press release that stated that he had signed a full-time F1 contract with them.
Instead, he even made it clear in the post that he would not drive for Alpine this year. Since the French outfit unsurprisingly felt betrayed, they approached the Contract Recognition Board (CRB) to discuss the case. The CRB ultimately decided that only McLaren had a valid contract with Piastri and not Alpine.
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.
— Oscar Piastri (@OscarPiastri) August 2, 2022
“The only contract to be recognized by the Board is the contract between McLaren Racing Limited and Mr Piastri dated 4 July 2022. Mr Piastri is entitled to drive for McLaren Racing Limited for the 2023 and 2024 seasons,” read the verdict (as quoted by formula1.com).
Soon after the CRB issued their verdict, McLaren put out a press release to confirm that they had signed Piastri. Meanwhile, the Australian himself took to social media and announced himself as a driver of the Woking-based outfit.
