McLaren knows its line-up for next year. Oscar Piastri will drive alongside Norris

The long-running saga concerning the future of the reigning F2 champion is finally over. Oscar Piastri is a McLaren driver from next year.

The whole story began during the Hungarian GP at the end of July. Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel announced the end of his career on his Instagram account.

Somewhat surprisingly, Fernando Alonso took his place at Aston Martin. The Spanish driver announced his transfer without giving any advance warning to his current team, Alpine. Team boss Otmar Szafnauer admitted that he was surprised by Alonso’s announcement and was confident that he would keep the double world champion for another year.

The team from Enstone subsequently issued a statement that their junior, Oscar Piastri, would complete Esteban Ocon in the line-up. The Aussie took to Twitter to dismiss the news, claiming that he had not signed any contract with Alpine.

The dispute went all the way to the contract recognition committee. Today, September 2, the commission ruled that the only contract that can be recognised is the one between Oscar Piastri and McLaren signed on July 4, 2022, the day after the British GP.

The Australian driver will thus race alongside Lando Norris next season. He has signed a multi-year contract with McLaren.

“McLaren has a long tradition of giving young talent a chance. I’m looking forward to working alongside Lando and together we will push the team to the top of the grid. I’m focused on preparing for my F1 debut in 2023 and starting my F1 career in Papaya colours ,” Piastri commented on the situation on his Twitter account.

Source: Formula 1, Twitter