The resolution of the Oscar Piastri case and the confirmation of his signing by McLaren leaves Alpine without its second driver for the 2023 Formula 1 season . After the Enstone team announced the young Australian as the starter after the departure of Fernando Alonso to Aston Martin , the academy member himself denied having signed a contract with the French, generating a wave of rumors about how the negotiations with both teams were managed.
Be that as it may, the Contract Recognition Board agreed with those of Woking , and they will be the ones who enjoy the Formula 2 winner in their ranks along with Lando Norris for a couple who is not older than 23 years of age.
Now Alpine must find a replacement and, as revealed by Motorsport.com, Pierre Gasly is one of the main candidates to drive the French car. However, for this, it is necessary that he resolve his commitment to AlphaTauri, a team with which he has confirmed his place on the grid in 2023.
Red Bull’s adviser, Helmut Marko , spoke after the start of the Dutch Grand Prix, and referred to the Frenchman’s situation, assuring that he would not put any impediment if he wanted to leave the structure of energy drinks, although with conditions .
“We have a valid contract for 2023, but in the meantime there are talks,” revealed the Austrian. “If our conditions are met, we wouldn’t stand in Gasly’s way. It would be a dream come true for him to drive for a French factory team, but not all the conditions have been met yet.”
In the case of leaving AlphaTauri, Red Bull headquarters must look for a replacement, and although there has been much speculation about hiring someone outside his young academy, as happened with Sergio Pérez, Marko points out that it will not be like that.
Asked on Sky if they were looking into the loss of Gasly and if they had a replacement, he said: “We’ve already thought about that but we don’t want to announce it yet. We have some people in the junior team who have the super licence. For the replacement driver we would recruit someone from there.”
One possibility if they choose not to sign anyone from the academy is Mick Schumacher, who ends his commitment to Ferrari in December: “No, it’s not a problem for us. He is, or was, a Ferrari junior. That’s why we have never dealt with with him, we have our own show. Of course, we prefer our own people.”
Nor did he give Colton Herta an option when the hiring of a driver from the North American nation was put on the table, a bet in case of attempting an assault on the US market that is currently so booming in Formula 1: “We are not yet there, but the United States is an important market.
“We have followed all that closely, if we are talking about the same person [in reference to Herta]. He has already done a Formula 1 test, he was good. I don’t want to go into details, we will wait and see how it develops. Marko concluded.
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