‘5 to 10 million dollars’: Otmar Szafnauer indicates Alpine want to sue Oscar Piastri as this crazy transfer saga continues

‘5 to 10 million dollars’: Otmar Szafnauer indicates Alpine want to sue Oscar Piastri as this crazy transfer saga continues

Otmar Szafnauer

Australian drivers have been the heart of F1 headlines for the past few weeks. With Daniel Ricciardo confirming his departure from McLaren, it is heavily rumoured that Oscar Piastri will take his place and Otmar Szafnauer isn’t stoked about it at all. It is troubling times for Alpine as they were left surprised after recent events where Otmar stated that what Piastri is doing is proof that he isn’t loyal to the team.

Oscar Piastri has been a major part of Alpine’s junior driver program for multiple years. The team has invested a lot of time and resources in developing the young gun. This includes funding his junior career in F2 along with a 3500 km F1 test and multiple sessions in the team’s simulator. Losing him to McLaren would mean a total waste of resources that Alpine had used to further develop the driver. It is clear that the team will not be ready give up the Aussie to McLaren without a fight.

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FIA’s contract recognition board intervenes during these situations. The board’s hearing will be taking place on monday after the Belgium Grand Prix weekend. After the hearing takes place, we will get to know what will happen further. Incase the ruling goes in Oscar Piastri’s favour, Otmar Szafnauer had indicated that the team is ready to take legal action against Piastri. Alpine’s team boss revealed the amount that the team will sue the Aussie for.

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Alpine is willing to sue Oscar Piastri for 5-10 million dollars if the FIA ruling favours the Aussie according to Otmar Szafnauer

Otmar Szafnauer, Oscar Piastri
Otmar Szafnauer, Oscar Piastri

Incase FIA’s ruling goes in favour of Oscar Piastri which will in turn free him from the clutches of Alpine to join McLaren, the team will most definitely sue him in court for an amount ranging from 5-10 million dollars according to Otmar Szafnauer. This will cover all the aforementioned expenses that the team undertook to develop the driver. Alpine wanted to extend Alonso’s contract by a year and loan Piastri to McLaren although things took a turn and the Spaniard joined Aston Martin on a multi year deal. The team then announced Piastri as their driver for 2023 but he had other plans.

This whole situation between both the teams is a reason why the summer break is termed as the start of the silly season. In the coming days, drama will unfold with Oscar Piastri, Otmar Szafnauer, McLaren and Alpine being at the centre of it.

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