Oscar Piastri slammed Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer and criticized the team for its bizarre behavior.
Piastri’s 2022 future has finally been sorted as earlier this week McLaren announced him as Lando Norris’ partner for the 2023 season. This move became official after a lot of drama and controversy, particularly because Alpine themselves had announced him as Fernando Alonso’s replacement last month.
The 21-year-old did not waste time in revealing that Alpine announced his future in spite of him not having any sort of agreement with the team. He also added that he won’t be driving for the Enstone-based outfit in 2023. Since then, very heavy rumors linked him to the McLaren seat, especially after the Woking outfit made Daniel Ricciardo’s exit official.
We have signed 2021 F2 champion @OscarPiastri.
Oscar joins Lando to form our exciting F1 driver line-up from 2023. 👊
Full story. ⬇️
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) September 2, 2022
Piastri had been involved with Alpine for four years. This is why he was not happy with how the team handled things and went public without his permission. He labeled the entire experience as ‘bizarre and upsetting.’
Also read: Alpine to pay $420,000 to McLaren and Oscar Piastri after losing CRB trial
Oscar Piastri was disappointed when Alpine made his move public
Alpine has now lost an off-track battle with McLaren to secure Piastri’s services. The Aussie will now definitely drive for the Surrey-based outfit and Alpine will be looking elsewhere to find Alonso’s replacement.
Piastri admitted that he has a lot of admiration and respect for the people at Alpine. However, the way the team’s top management treated him over the last few weeks really upset him. He spoke to F1’s official website ahead of the Dutch GP this weekend.
It’s official! 😁#F1 #OP81 @mclaren pic.twitter.com/CFY3Z1ddrQ
— Oscar Piastri (@OscarPiastri) September 2, 2022
“My decision was made well in advance,” the 2021 F2 Champion said. “This made Alpine’s announcement probably even more confusing and upsetting. Because we had told the team that I wasn’t going to continue.”
“It was quite upsetting as the announcement was false. And it also denied me the opportunity to properly say goodbye to everyone at Enstone. I had been with team for a bit over two and a half years now, and for the rest of the team to find out I was leaving in that manner was very upsetting.”
Piastri will replace his compatriot Ricciardo at McLaren. Where the latter ends up in 2023, is yet to be seen.
Also read: Esteban Ocon reveals how his family made Pierre Gasly a Grand Prix champion
