MOTORSPORT: Aussie young gun Piastri declines F1 drive
Alpine F1 Team announces Australian for 2023 seat – a move subsequently denied two hours laterThe Formula 1 silly season has cranked into overdrive, with Oscar Piastri named by the Alpine F1 Team as its replacement for outgoing double world champion Fernando Alonso, only for the Australian to deny the claim via social media.
Rated highly within the F1 paddock not just for winning the 2021 Formula 2 title, Piastri had been seen as a key to the 2023 driver market, with Alpine acting quickly to announce him as a partner for Esteban Ocon.
“Oscar is a bright and rare talent,” said Alpine’s team principal Otmar Szafnauer in the announcement.
“We are proud to have nurtured and supported him through the difficult pathways of the junior formulae.
“Through our collaboration over the past four years, we have seen him develop and mature into a driver who is more than capable of taking the step up to Formula 1.
“As our reserve driver he has been exposed to the team at the track, factory and testing where he has shown the maturity, promise and speed to ensure his promotion to our second seat alongside Esteban.”
The team’s release suspiciously did not include a quote from Piastri, who with his manager Mark Webber has been known to be looking at his options, with industry speculation pointing to the prospect of him replacing Daniel Ricciardo at McLaren.
Just two hours after the Alpine announcement dropped, Piastri took to Twitter to refute that he will drive for the squad.
“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,” said Piastri.
“This is wrong and I have not signed a contract with Alpine for 2023. I will not be driving for Alpine next year.”
The wheels for the current set of driver movements were set in motion when four-time F1 champ Sebastian Vettel announced his retirement late last week, with his seat at Aston Martin swiftly claimed by Alonso.
Subsequently, Szafnauer has revealed that his squad only found out about Alonso’s departure to the rival squad via that team’s official press release.
The sequence of events mirrors those played out recently in Indycar, where 2021 series champion Alex Palau was announced to be staying at Chip Ganassi Racing, before the driver later confirmed that he intended to be moving to the McLaren squad.
That situation has turned legal, with the two parties currently in the process of countersuing each other.
Originally from Melbourne, Piastri grew up within earshot of the Albert Park Grand Prix circuit, and after his formative years racing karts locally, he moved to the UK in 2016 to further his career.
After finishing second in the 2017 British F4 Championship, Piastri graduated to the Formula Renault Eurocup, which he won in 2019.
His rise up the F1 ladder commenced in earnest in 2020 when he claimed a truncated FIA Formula 3 Championship by three points over Frenchman Théo Pourchaire, with his wins at the Red Bull Ring and Barcelona decisive.
Finally, on debut last year in the FIA Formula 2 Championship, he was decisive in claiming six victories en route to a convincing championship victory.
Other recent F2/GP2 title winners have included Mick Schumacher (2020), George Russell (2018), Charles Leclerc (2017), Pierre Gasly (2016), Stoffel Vandoorne (2015) and Romain Grosjean (2011).
Signed on for the Renault Sport Academy in 2020, Piastri participated in a young drivers test in October that year, before being named as the reserve driver for both the Alpine and McLaren teams throughout the 2022 season.
The Formula 1 Championship continues after the summer break at Spa-Francorchamps for the Belgium Grand Prix.
Related: MOTORSPORT: Spin and win for Verstappen in Hungary
Related: MOTORSPORT: Sebastian Vettel calls time on F1 career
Related: MOTORSPORT: Piastri is F2 world champion
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