We have reached the halfway point of the summer break, and what a dramatic first half of the F1 mid-season shutdown it has been. At the heart of it is Alpine, which lost its star driver, Fernando Alonso. To fill the hole the double world champion left, they announced Oscar Piastri as his replacement.

Fans all know how that went down for the Enstone outfit as they received a blatant refusal from the 2021 Formula 2 champion. Nevertheless, they refused to take down the official announcement posted over social media. Notably, Piastri’s contract with the team ended on July 31, 2022, following which he was free to negotiate with any constructor on the grid.

All this pointed towards a legal battle between the two entities, and as of now, it looks like the French constructor has the upper hand over Piastri. The Alpine team principal, Otmar Szafnauer, attended the El Confidencial where he commented on the team’s reserve driver’s contract status.

He said, “This is not final yet, you still have to decide. We have a contract with Piastri, which he signed in November, we have spoken with our lawyers and they have told us that this is a binding contract, so part of that contract allows us to ride Oscar in one of our cars in 2023, which is just why we issued the press release.” (translated using google)

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With 7 days remaining in the summer break, there are many drivers who are still fighting for a seat next year. If you thought F1 is all about the on-track wheel-to-wheel action, this is your reminder of how it is a dog-eat-dog competition even off-track.

Alpine reveals its plans with Oscar Piastri

Ever since being crowned the F2 champion, the Melbourne-born racing driver has been waiting for his F1 opportunity. It finally arrived for him in the blue and pink racing suit, but it looks like his intentions are to wear a different color next season. Perhaps a splash of orange is his style?

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However, Szafnauer commented on how the team planned to work with Piastri by saying, “There is also an option for 2024 and the possibility for us to ‘loan’ the driver to another team. We wanted Fernando with us one more year and then a ‘loan’ from Oscar for 2023.”

“I have always said it in all my press conferences, that Piastri would be in Formula 1 in 2023 and it is because I knew that he could be in our car or in another, on loan, if Fernando had stayed.”

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“But Alonso, for whatever reason – and I think I know the reasons, although you should ask him – he goes to Aston Martin. So, we started finalizing the deal with Piastri, and instead of giving him up, we decided to put him in our car. Hence the statement.”

Where do you think the Aussie will race next season? Let us know.