Alpine team chief Otmar Szafnauer on Friday accused the team’s reserve driver Oscar Piastri of lacking “integrity” over the way his F1 contract saga has been handled so far.
21-year-old Piastri is currently at the centre of a contract dispute involving Alpine as he seeks to break free. On the other hand, Alpine claim that Piastri, managed by compatriot and former F1 driver Mark Webber, signed a contract with them for 2023, which he has rejected as he bids to move elsewhere.
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Szafnauer said, “My wish for Oscar was that he had a bit more integrity.”
“He signed a bit of paper back in November and we’ve done everything on our end of the bargain to prepare him for F1 and his end of that was to either drive for us or take a seat where we would place him for the next three years.”
Piastri, the Australian who had won Formula Three and Two titles in successive seasons en route to a F1 career, is now linked with a switch to McLaren to replace fellow-Australian Daniel Ricciardo, who on Wednesday announced his agreement to leave the team at the end of this season.
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The dispute began when Aston Martin recruited two-time champion Fernando Alonso from Alpine to succeed retirement-bound four-time champion Sebastian Vettel next season.
On discovering that Alonso will leave, Alpine announced that they were promoting Piastri, but he countered by saying that he had not signed a contract and would not be with the team in 2023.
The situation will however be addressed by International Motoring Federation (FIA) contract recognition board.
On the other hand, Alonso dismissed claims that he, his manager Flavio Briatore, formerly team boss of Renault, and Webber, who was managed by Briatore during his racing career, had did any kind of plotting to disrupt Alpine’s plans.
Alonso said that when he read the news reports, he felt,
“Sad and annoying”
“Honestly, it was quite sad and annoying to read about that conspiracy because I made this decision.
“For some months, I had been chatting with the team about extending the contract (with Alpine), but nothing officially arrived and nothing officially happened, and Aston called me after Sebastian retired.
“If Sebastian had continued, this would probably not have happened, the move to Aston. There were very clear and very easy decisions from my side, and what happened after and what is happening with Oscar, is completely not my thing.”
24-hours after Alonso’s statement, Szafnauer highlighted that Ricciardo might return to Alpine next year, who will leave McLaren at the end of the season.
He said, “We haven’t had any discussions yet, but everybody speaks highly of him from his time with the team.”
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