F1 rocked by contract dispute – could it take Daniel Ricciardo into the Alps in 2023?
When Fernando Alonso signed with Aston Martin and left Albin, team boss Otmar Szafnauer was somewhat surprised. A day later, the stable offered Oscar Piastre as a substitute and driver until 2023.
It was an official press release – but without any quoting from Piastri and an hour or so later, Piastri denied the information on Twitter.
I understand that without my consent, Alpine F1 issued a press release in the late afternoon that I’m driving for them next year. This is a mistake and I have not signed a contract with Alpine for 2023. I will not be driving to Alpine next year.
OscarPiastri August 2, 2022
However, Aston Martin feels entitled to the services of the Piastre in 2023.
We consider our press release legally correct and have nothing to say, salutes Aston Martin via BBC.
How could that happen?
Oscar Piastre, 21, has former F1 driver Mark Webber as manager. He has belonged to the Alps for four seasons and is their reserve driver. This year he didn’t get the driver’s seat because Alpine had contracts with both Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon and, as the reigning Formula 2 champion, is not allowed to drive the series again. With Alonso giving the impression that the contract extension with Alpine was just a matter of form, Piastri manager Webber looked at other options. One of those was right in front of our noses.
At the same time that Piastre had stints in the Alpine, he was also a reserve driver for McLaren. It’s a happy team, Lando Norris, but he wanted more from Daniel Ricciardo. The latter was criticized by his teammate and did not score the points expected of him at all. At the same time, the former GP winner costs a lot of money and has a contract with McLaren until 2023.
Daniel Ricciardo up to the Alps 2023?
Now the whole soup could end up changing – Ricciardo returns to the Alps (what he was called Renault when he was driving for the team) and Piastri gets a place at McLaren.
– There are no problems in this case. We have to focus on the plan we have, to get to the top in 88-89 races. We have to make sure we have the best drivers to get there and there are several possibilities,” Alpine Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer told motoporttotal.com and Autosport.com.
According to the Associated Press, Daniel Ricciardo has until September to convince McLaren that he must complete the contract.
Williams Albon confirms
Williams has extended the contract of Alexander Albon, who replaced George Russell, ahead of this year’s season. He signed an agreement valid for several years.
This means that there are now a few free spots on the starting grid in 2023, and Alfa Romeo has a spot available, as do Haas, AlphaTauri and Williams. Then the soup comes with Alpine, where the team claims they have a driver – but the driver says he doesn’t have a contract.
A new episode of Sportbladet’s F1 podcast, Plattan i Mattan, came out discussing the Hungarian Grand Prix and there were plenty of details to talk about – like Ferrari, Sebastian Vettel and Mercedes. Listen.
F1 is now in its summer vacation, teams can choose 14 days to close completely. The next F1 race won’t be decided until last weekend in August, but nevertheless, the F1 blog remains open, as does our podcast.