Oscar Piastri on sim duties for Alpine despite the ongoing rift between the two parties
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Oscar Piastri
Most people are well aware of what is going on between Oscar Piastri, Alpine, and McLaren. When Fernando Alonso ‘surprisingly’ announced his departure from Alpine, Piastri was announced as the replacement. But Piastri quickly shut that down, proclaiming on his Twitter that he will not be driving for Alpine next year.
Piastri was rumoured to be in discussions with McLaren, and Daniel Ricciardo’s departure has just been announced. But there is no announcement on the Piastri front just yet. Moreover, his ‘awkward’ announcement regarding Alpine raised more than a few eyebrows, and there may even be a potential legal battle coming, as Alpine seek compensation for their investment in the driver.
This will make for a very weird situation for Piastri in this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, and in the future, as he is continuing his conventional duties with the team. Time will tell if Piastri will satisfy his intentions to take Ricciardo’s ‘former’ seat at McLaren, but in the meantime, he is obligated to work with the team he may or may not leave.
No confirmation of Oscar Piastri’s obligated FP1 runs
As reported by The Race, despite the awkward situation, and a potential legal battle, Alpine seem to be continuing to use Oscar Piastri in roles to fulfil. For the upcoming Belgian Grand Prix, Piastri will be on simulator support duties for the team, from back at the team’s base, so he will not be present in Spa.
Like every other team, in accordance with the rule to give ‘young’ or development/test drivers at least two FP1 runs during the year, Alpine had too, scheduled Piastri for the same. But it’ll be interesting to see if they will avail themselves of this option, keeping in mind the current situation, and they may just choose to give some other driver this opportunity.
Before this business with McLaren came out in public, and before the tweets and premature announcements, Piastri was supposed to make his FP1 debut for the team at either Spa or Monza, but that has been completely thrown into doubt by what’s happened since.
Nor has Piastri completed his 2021 car testing programme with Alpine either, which the team have said consists of 5000 km of running. The situation is uncertain, in limbo, and Oscar Piastri’s future in Formula 1 hangs in the balance. Fans everywhere would surely love to see the young gun in the sport, regardless of what team he’s driving for.
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Aniket Tripathi
(1002 Articles Published)