Otmar Szafnauer claims Alpine didn’t “fight” to keep Oscar Piastri

Oscar Piastri joined McLaren amidst a lot of back and forth between Alpine and McLaren before the 2023 season.

Otmar Szafnauer claims Alpine didn’t “fight” to keep Oscar Piastri

Otmar Szafnauer [L] Oscar Piastri [R] (images via IMAGO).

Australian driver Oscar Piastri joined McLaren amidst a lot of controversies surrounding his contract with Alpine. The then-reserve driver for Alpine was to be shifted to a driver role in the 2023 season before he joined McLaren. The former Alpine Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer recalled the battle between the two teams for the rookie.

Szafnauer mentioned that the CRB (FIA Contract Recognition Board) ruled in favor of Oscar Piastri’s claim and hence the French team had to cede the driver. However, the former Alpine boss reckoned that if the case was undertaken in the English courts, the outcome would have favored Alpine as opposed to the CRB outcome. According to the CRB outcome, the status quo was declared ‘an out’ as Szafnauer revealed the matter subsequently.

There was a CRB test that landed on the side of Oscar and McLaren, but that’s not the only test,Had we tested the contract in the English courts, because it was governed by English law, the outcome could have been much different than the CRB. We performed, Oscar didn’t. From a CRB perspective there was an ‘out’.
Zak Brown said in an interview with Peter Windsor.
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But as a result, the CRB ruling revealed a different outcome than what Szafnauer wanted. The Romanian-American asserted that the team decided to let it be and not fight over it. However, this decision was not taken by the 59-year-old as he claimed that this decision was made for him, and not by him, hinting at the higher-ups at Enstone.

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But from an English law perspective, it could have been different. But the decision was made to not continue the fight and just let it be as it is. And that’s okay, that was a decision that I didn’t make. That was a decision that was made for me.

Otmar Szafnauer claimed Oscar Piastri performed well against Lando Norris

Oscar Piastri was the rookie this season and scored one sprint victory in the season. Regardless, Lando Norris failed to manage a victory in the season but finished above Piastri overall in the championship standings. However, Szafnauer insisted that the rookie performed well against his teammate Lando Norris.

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri (via IMAGO).

Anyhow, the Romanian-American commented that Norris was still quite a way ahead of Piastri in other aspects. Still, the former Alpine boss applauded Piastri for his exceptional performance in the rookie season. Szafnauer did not hesitate in accepting that Norris did not outshine Piastri in all the races but in some of the head-to-head comparisons.

Both the drivers have been locked with McLaren till the end of the 2026 season. The following season would put forth some exciting and interesting performances from the team as the Woking displayed its capabilities in competing with the teams ahead of them in terms of pace.

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