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Alpine boss takes a swipe at young Australian’s ‘integrity’ as F1 saga turns ugly
By Chris Roots
Alpine boss Otmar Szafnauer has criticised the integrity of Formula 1 rookie Oscar Piastri with the contract wrangle over the young Australian to go before F1’s contract recognition board on Monday.
Szafnauer told Sky Sports in an interview at the Belgian Grand Prix on Friday that Alpine had a contract for 2023 with Piastri, who won the Formula 2 and Formula 3 championships in the past two years as part of the French team’s development program.
Piastri is the frontrunner to take over at McLaren in 2023 from compatriot Daniel Ricciardo, who announced this week that he will leaving the team, with the final year of his contract to be paid out in a settlement worth $24 million.
Alpine had announced on August 1 that Piastri, who is the reserve driver at the French team this year, would take a coveted seat in F1, only for the 21-year-old to respond on social media: “I will not be driving for Alpine next year.”
Szafnauer said the matter would be resolved by the FAI’s contract recognition board next week.
“I think the right thing for us to do is go to the CRB on Monday, see how that pans out and then start looking at some negotiations in earnest,” Szafnauer told Sky Sports.
Oscar Piastri is the centre of a Formula 1 contract dispute with Alpine.Credit: Getty Images
“He’s a promising young driver, [but] he hasn’t driven in Formula 1 yet, and my wish for Oscar is he had a bit more integrity.
“He signed a piece of paper as well back in November, and we’ve done everything on our end of the bargain to prepare him for Formula 1, and his end of the bargain was to either drive for us or take a seat where we would place him for the next three years.
“I just wish Oscar would have remembered what he signed in November and what he signed up to.”
Piastri’s management has been contacted for comment.
The opportunity came when two-time world champion Fernando Alonso shocked Alpine by signing with Aston Martin after only being offered a one-year contract.
Piastri is considered a once-in-a-generation talent after matching the feats of F1 stars Charles Leclerc and George Russell by winning the junior classes in consecutive years.
British team McLaren have remained quiet so far on the tantalising prospect of Piastri replacing Ricciardo, but an announcement is expected soon.
McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown said on Wednesday that the team was sure about its next move following the Ricciardo announcement.
“We are obviously very confident in our future, which we will announce in due course,” he said.
Pressed about McLaren’s line-up for 2023, he would only joke: “It’ll definitely be confirmed before the first race of next year.”
Neither would McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl give anything away when asked about the possibility of a rookie like Piastri, who’s yet to race in F1 despite a glittering junior career, replacing an eight-time race winner like Ricciardo.
Brown took a swipe at Szafnauer in response to the Alpine boss’ comments about Piastri, for Szafnauer’s role in the controversial Racing Point car in 2020, with the team penalised after for running illegal parts that copied Mercedes.
“Judging by recent times and the way Fernando caught Otmar by surprise – and not too long ago he was the recipient of a €400,000 fine and 15 points – I’m not sure he comes with the highest level of credibility and making accusations of ethics,” Brown said.
With Reuters