Alpine is still waiting for Piastri to take the seat vacated by Alonso, and believes he has a valid contract to make that happen.
The team announced on Tuesday afternoon that Piastri would be its starting driver in 2023. However, shortly after, the Australian took to social media to deny this was the case.
Motorsport.com has learned that Piastri has struck a deal to join McLaren when it seemed his only option to race in 2023 was for Alpine to loan Williams out, a deal he and manager Mark Webber did not want.
The sudden availability of Fernando Alonso’s seat has complicated things for all parties.
Should Piastri win any of the future legal disputes and end up going to McLaren, Alpine will have to find a replacement for the one who had been chosen to replace Alonso.
Szafnauer said that after Monday’s announcement of Alonso’s move to Aston Martin he had already “received a lot of calls from other potential drivers”.
If Daniel Ricciardo is sacked from McLaren to make way for Piastri, he will potentially be one of the most attractive options on the market, despite his recent spotty performance at the Woking outfit.
The problem is that after being signed by the then Renault team at great expense to lead the team into the future, Ricciardo decided early in his second season in 2020 to jump ship and join McLaren for 2021.
That decision did not sit well with the Renault camp, and although the team’s management has changed – Cyril Abiteboul is gone and Szafnauer and Laurent Rossi now lead the team – perhaps he is not forgotten.
Indeed, Groupe Renault boss Luca de Meo was particularly frustrated by Ricciardo’s departure back in the day.
However, when asked by Motorsport.com about Ricciardo, Szafnauer compared the situation to the times Alonso has returned to a team ( Renault/Alpine twice and McLaren once), and insisted the priority was finding someone. the right drivers to help the team in its plan to be at the front of the grid when they reach 100 races.
“I mean, if you look at Fernando, for example, he comes and goes, and I think that happens to other drivers as well,” he said.
“And I don’t think that’s a problem at all. I think what we have to focus on is, as I say, the plans that we have for the next 89-88 races.”
“We have to make sure we supplement that plan with the best driver that we can, and there are some. And we’ll put the best driver alongside Esteban Ocon, so that we can move toward what we’ve been planning.”
Speaking ahead of Piastri’s comment on social media, Szafnauer also insisted that the team, if he turns out to be right and the youngster has to drive for them, will forget about his move to McLaren and remain the gamble.
He compared the situation to that of BAR in 2005, when Jenson Button appeared to be leaving for Williams but ultimately stayed with the Brackley outfit after a legal battle.
“I’ve been in F1 long enough and I’ve seen that kind of thing happen,” he said.
“When Jenson signed with Williams and ended up at British American Racing Honda (BAR Honda), if you remember what happened, there was absolutely no problem. I know Oscar is different than Jenson. I hope we don’t have to go down that road anyway. shapes”.
“But back then I was like ‘oh, a driver wants to leave’. And I hope that’s not the case, but I’ve seen a driver sign with another team the wrong way, so he had to race with the team he was with. initially signed.
“And it wasn’t a problem at all. I mean, Jenson at the time, I don’t know if you remember, he did a stellar job at BAR, and he never ended up at Williams.
