“That’s a bold move,” Pierre Gasly shocked to see Oscar Piastri turn down an F1 seat
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F1 driver Pierre Gasly and Oscar Piastri
There has been a lot of speculation and controversy towards Alpine F1 team’s second seat in the past few weeks which has surely shocked Pierre Gasly. Originally Fernando Alonso who currently occupies the seat was apparently offered a 1 year deal with Alpine but he rejected it. With Sebastian Vettel announcing his retirement from the sport, there was an empty sear at Aston Martin so he signed a multi year contract with the British team and will race with them from 2023 onwards.
As a reaction to this move, Alpine had no choice but to promote Oscar Piastri beforehand and that is what they did without contacting the driver. The team announced the Aussie as their driver for 2023 but that isn’t what Oscar intended for to happen. It was previously thought that Alpine would loan the Australian driver to McLaren for a year after which he would join the French outfit.
After the announcement, Oscar put out a statement which basically said that he had no idea about the contract and hasn’t signed anything yet. Pierre Gasly was surprised by this just like everyone else in the paddock. After waiting for so long in the sidelines, Piastri had finally gotten a chance to race in the big league but there is a reason why he chose not to race with the French next year.
Oscar Piastri will supposedly sign a contract with McLaren to replace Daniel Ricciardo who will be parting ways with the team after this season. Piastri is managed by fellow Aussie Mark Weber. Piastri and Alpine are in a court battle regarding this contract crisis and it will be interesting to see who comes out on top. With Alpine possibly having to find a new driver for 2023, Pierre Gasly could take his place to make it an all French lineup. He gave his thoughts on the whole situation.
“I was quite surprised by his action”, Pierre Gasly on Oscar Piastri’s decision to reject an F1 contract
”To refuse an F1 seat, when you know how difficult it is to get there and be affiliated with Alpine. So I was quite surprised by his action”, Pierre Gasly said.
It will be interesting to see where the two drivers end up for next season. While Pierre Gasly has a confirmed seat with AlphaTauri, it is still undecided whether Oscar Piastri will have a seat in the sport next season. The contract recognition board will give their statement today on the dispute between the two entities. Let’s see what happens.
Also read : ‘It’s wholly inaccurate and unfair,’ Martin Brundle calls out Fernando Alonso’s criticism of Lewis Hamilton
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Varad Joshi
(940 Articles Published)