Is there a contract or not? Alpine has announced a new pilot, but he denies the news

Following Fernando Alonso’s unexpected announcement that he will race for Aston Martin next year, there has been a flurry of speculation about the newly created vacancy in the Alpine team. The main contender was reigning Formula 2 champion Oscar Piastri. But other teams are also said to be interested.

Three times champion in a row, but not a single race this year

The Australian racer made his case for a place in F1 with fantastic performances in his junior career. After his Formula Renault Eurocup title in 2019, Piastri moved up to Formula 3, where he narrowly won the championship ahead of Theo Pourchaire as a rookie.

Naturally, the Prema driver took a step up to Formula 2. It was there that he was introduced to the motorsport world as one of the greatest talents of recent times. He took five consecutive pole positions and won all four main races in the second half of the season.

During the season, the Alpine junior team member stood on the podium eleven times, six of them on the top step. He finished the championship 60.5 points ahead of second place Robert Schwartzman.

The natural step for Piastri was to move to Formula 1, but there was one problem – there was no room for him. Alpine had signed Alonso until the end of 2022 and still has a long-term contract with Ocon. The youngster from Melbourne had to accept the role of a substitute for this season.

Alpine? McLaren? There was a lot of interest in the 21-year-old driver

As a shock on Monday came the news that Piastri was in a meeting with McLaren. This started speculation that Daniel Ricciardo would move to Alpine and be replaced by his compatriot Piastri.

But that place alongside Norris is very much in demand. In addition to Ricciardo, who would like to keep his position, IndyCar drivers Patricio O’Ward, Colton Herta and reigning champion Álex Palou are all vying for a seat in the orange monoposto.

But on Tuesday, August 2, the French team announced that it had signed Piastri for next season. But here’s where the Piastri saga gets complicated. The driver himself issued a statement on social media in the evening saying that the report is not true and that he will not race for Alpine in 2023.

“I have been informed that without my consent Alpine F1 announced this afternoon that I will race with them next year. This is not true and I have not signed a contract with Alpine for 2023. I will not drive for Alpine next year.”

So we’ll have to wait a little longer for a resolution. Piastri probably believes that the McLaren job will be his, or he has decided to go in a completely different direction. AlphaTauri, Alfa Romeo, Williams, Haas also have incomplete line-ups for next year.

Sources