Formula 1: Oscar Piastri won’t get an early release from Alpine, McLaren boss concedes

Formula One’s salary cap scandal has gone up another notch with a rival team boss’ anger made public in a leaked letter. It comes as Max Verstappen considers his future in the sport.

Max Verstappen driving in the Japanese Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen has hinted at an early retirement from Formula 1 that could come as soon as the end of his current Red Bull deal in 2028.

The 25-year-old became the second-youngest driver in history to win multiple world championships, behind only Sebastian Vettel, when he clinched the 2022 title with a win at Suzuka earlier this month.

But as talk of a possible Red Bull-Verstappen dynasty began to circulate, the Dutchman pumped the brakes on a Lewis Hamilton-like dominance of the Formula 1 title.

Barely a week after clinching his second-consecutive world championship in bizarre circumstances at the Japanese Grand Prix, Verstappen told Sky Sports he planned to be with Red Bull “for a long time to come” however hinted he could look elsewhere at the end of his current deal.

“I don’t see myself driving until I’m 40 because I want to also do other stuff,” Verstappen said.

“I’m having a lot of fun with what I’m doing right now and I’m still in F1 for a couple more years … I’m signed until (2028).

“After that, it also depends how everything is going, but I will probably try to do a few different kinds of racing because it’s important also to try different things.”

Max Verstappen isn’t sure if he’ll stay in F1 after his current deal. Picture: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

With a 42-year-old Fernando Alonso set to continue his career with Aston Martin next season and Hamilton, 37, indicating plans to drive into his 40s at Mercedes, Verstappen’s claim that he could bow out of the sport by the time he is 30 could send shockwaves through the paddock.

The world champion’s bombshell comes as Red Bull continues to come under fire from rivals over its “minor” breach of the Formula 1 spending cap.

Last week the FIA released the findings of its financial audit into the 2021 season, which found Red Bull had exceeded the USD $145 million ($230 million AUD) spending cap by less than 5 per cent.

In a leaked letter to the FIA dated October 12, McLaren boss Zak Brown labelled Red Bull’s cost cap breach as “cheating” and suggested financial and sporting penalties that should be imposed.

“The overspend breach, and possibly the procedural breaches, constitute cheating by offering a significant advantage across technical, sporting and financial regulations,” Brown wrote in a letter addressed to FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem.

Zak Brown said in a leaked letter the cap breaches were cheating.

“We have even been given a one-year dress rehearsal (in 2020), with ample opportunity to seek any clarification if details were unclear. So, there is no reason for any team to now say they are surprised.

“The bottom line is any team who has overspent has gained an unfair advantage both in the current and following year’s car development.

“We don’t feel a financial penalty alone would be a suitable penalty for an overspend breach or a serious procedural breach.

“There clearly needs to be a sporting penalty in these instances, as determined by the FIA.”

Max Verstappen clinches the world title at a rain-soaked Japanese Grand Prix. Picture: Clive Mason/Getty Images

Brown suggested financial penalties be taken out of the team’s cost cap for the following season and asked for further sanctions, including limiting wind tunnel access.

“We suggest that the overspend should be penalised by way of reduction to the team’s cost cap in the year following the ruling, and the penalty should be equal to the overspend plus a further fine, (for example) an overspend of $2m in 2021, which identified in 2022, would result in a $4m deduction in 2023.”

“In addition, we believe there should be minor overspend sporting penalties of a 20 per cent reduction in CFD and wind tunnel time.

“These should be enforced in the following year, to mitigate against the unfair advantage the team has and will continue to benefit from.”

ALL-AUSSIE BATTLE AMID MCLAREN BOSS’S BIG PIASTRI CONCESSION

McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl does not expect Oscar Piastri to be granted an early release from his Alpine contract, leaving the Aussie rookie to contend with compatriot Jack Doohan for FP1 runs with the French manufacturer over the final four races of the Formula 1 season.

After Piastri completed his highly publicised defection from Alpine to McLaren as Daniel Ricciardo’s replacement for 2023, it was hoped the 21-year-old Melburnian would get an early taste in the papaya through the mandated FP1 runs that each team must offer young drivers over the course of a season.

However Piastri has remained entrenched in Alpine and continued simulation work as its reserve driver, even as team boss Laurent Rossi sounded off on his defection, leaving McLaren to hand Alex Palou and Pato O’Ward FP1 stints in Austin and Abu Dhabi respectively.

“They’re still planning to keep going with the program, as far as I understand, with Oscar until the end of the season,” Seidl said.

Jack Doohan. Picture: Dan Mullan/Getty

Oscar Piastri. Picture: Twitter/BWT Alpine F1 Team

“Therefore, there is no news really.”

Alpine is yet to announce who and when it will run its young driver FP1 sessions however Formula 2 rookie Doohan, who is part of the team’s Academy program, is a likely candidate.

Doohan was at one point considered for Fernando Alonso’s vacated 2023 seat before Alpine ultimately settled on Pierre Gasly.

That leaves the two Aussies, Piastri and Doohan, in the frame to drive in FP1 for Alpine over the final month of the season.

Alpine principal Otmar Szafnauer said he was “unsure” whether Piastri would see FP1 time, when asked at the Japanese Grand Prix.

Oscar Piastri’s future remains stymied after completing his move to McLaren. Source: Instagram

With Doohan a chance to replace Piastri as the team’s reserve driver from next season, it would make sense to give the Queenslander early time in the car.

He already got a taste of the Formula 1 program at a private testing event in Hungary last month, when he drove the Alpine A521.

Szafnauer indicated earlier this month that Doohan’s “immediate focus needs to be on winning the F2 championship next year”.

“We’ll support him through the process and help him along the way and give him some time in a car as well to prepare him for Formula 1.”

Originally published as Formula 1: Oscar Piastri won’t get an early release from Alpine, McLaren boss concedes