Alpine boss blasts Fernando Alonso and Oscar Piastri as contract saga rumbles on

Oscar Piastri has been told he would be making a mistake if he leaves Alpine for McLaren as the contract saga which is dominating F1’s summer breaking rumbles on.

Fernando Alonso got the ball rolling at the start of last week when it was announced he would be leaving Alpine for Aston Martin, where he will replace the retiring Sebastian Vettel, at the end of the season.

A day later, Alpine said it would be promoting reserve driver Piastri to its race seat, only for the Australian to reject the statement and publically declare he would be driving elsewhere in 2023. Piastri and his management team are said to be chasing a move to McLaren, with some reports claiming the F2 champion has already signed a deal to replace the struggling Daniel Ricciardo.

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Alpine are adamant their contract with Piastri for next year is robust, despite suggestions they missed a deadline to take up the option in his contract to promote him to a race seat. Alpine team boss Otmar Szafnauer has been left disappointed by Piastri’s perceived lack of loyalty, but is still confident he will be in the team alongside Esteban Ocon next season.

“The strategic plan is very good and Piastri knows it. Better even than McLaren's,” he told El Confidencial. “We have supported him. There should be some loyalty to the fact that we have invested literally millions and millions of euros to prepare him. So I don't understand it, you should ask him.

“We had a contract with Piastri and we have to understand where it takes us legally. We believe, and that is why we issued the statement, that we have a binding contract. Let's spend some time studying where this takes us.”

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A bullish Szafnauer added that there are a host of other drivers ready to take Piastri’s spot in the team.

“If Piastri isn't in the car – which I think he's going to be – because Fernando is out, I have 14 phone calls from drivers who are interested, because the Alpine seat is the most valuable one left,” he said.

Alpine had been confident that Alonso would stay with the Renault-backed team, who were caught completely surprised by the Aston Martin announcement, with the two-time world champion signing a long-term deal with the Silverstone outfit. In the same interview, Szafnauer appeared to question the Spaniard’s integrity.

“I believe that I am a man of integrity and that if I commit to something, I will do everything I can to make it happen,” he said. “I keep my word, it's the way I've grown up, that my father passed on to me. But hey, I've understood that not everyone does things the same way.”

“A two-year contract, although it was one plus one [was offered to Alonso by Alpine]. I think one of the keys for Fernando was the extension of the contract. He's performing at a very high level and I told him that if he continued at that level, next year we would surely continue, we would be crazy not doing it. But, as for everyone in life, there comes a time when age affects your psychological abilities, your eyes, your brain, your muscles, your nervous system.

“We offered him more money than we paid him now, which is logical. It was a figure that at the beginning he tried to negotiate, as everyone does, but in the end we reached an agreement, formally. I've heard rumours that he's been given a very high offer. I don't know if it has been a decisive factor – ask him.”

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