Oscar Piastri

Oscar Piastri has refuted Alpine's claim that they have signed him for Formula 1 2023 and insists - in a dramatic twist to the sport's transfer 'silly ...

"Where is he going to be driving? We are all sitting on the fence." "He is going to be a credit to the sport whatever car he is in because his on-track driving does the talking and he is going to be an asset to the Formula 1 paddock and driver market, it is just where he is going to be placed now. "Yeah it is very odd. If Ricciardo did lose his seat, he could make an unexpected return to the Renault family. "Now, that statement that he has put out, I find it very surprising that he is rejecting a team that is in the top four and a great upward trajectory, that you wouldn't want to drive for them."

The Twitterverse literally exploded yesterday after Oscar Piastri came out to TURN DOWN his supposed new F1 contract with Alpine for 2023!

— Alex Jacques (@AlexJacquesF1)August 2, 2022 — Ryanair (@Ryanair)August 2, 2022 — Specsavers (@Specsavers)August 2, 2022 — breals 🏁 (@sophieebrearley)August 2, 2022 — nic 🏁 (@nnicolef1)August 2, 2022 — Romain Grosjean (@RGrosjean)August 2, 2022

Paul Di Resta can only assume Oscar Piastri already has a drive lined up with another team after rejecting an Alpine seat.

“Where is he going to be driving? We are all sitting on the fence.” “He is going to be a credit to the sport whatever car he is in because his on-track driving does the talking and he is going to be an asset to the Formula 1 paddock and driver market, it is just where he is going to be placed now.

OSCAR PIASTRI has denied he will replace Fernando Alonso at Alpine despite the team announcing that he would.

And we discussed with Fernando that: 'Look, if next year at this time you're performing at the same level, of course, we will take you and that could have carried on'. But I think he wanted more certainty independent of performance." Speaking on his driver’s move, Szafnauer said: “Obviously when we're in the paddock, there's all sorts of rumours, and I had heard rumours that Aston were interested [but] it was the first confirmation I had. The Spaniard’s switch to Aston Martin came after four-time Sebastian Vettel announced he would be retiring at the end of the current season. “This is wrong and I have not signed a contract with Alpine for 2023. Piastri wrote on Twitter: “I understand that, without my agreement, Alpine F1 have put out a press release late this afternoon that I am driving for them next year. "Once you hear that they're interested, there's probably discussions that took place.

Alpine announced on Tuesday that Oscar Piastri would make his F1 debut with the team for 2023, only for the Australian to respond saying that would not be ...

What is certain is that Alpine have announced Piastri will drive for them in 2023 – and he says he won’t. We now await their respective next steps... The Australian, it is believed, has an option elsewhere on the grid and is keener to take that up, rather than join Alpine. However, they did so without a quote form Piastri. This is not the done thing with driver announcements. They wanted to give last season’s F2 champion Piastri a year elsewhere on the grid in 2023, before drafting him in for 2024. They were hopeful the Spaniard would stay on for a third season but they were not prepared to offer him a straight two-year deal. This left Alpine with an empty seat alongside Esteban Ocon, who is contracted until the end of 2024, for next season.

Alpine confirmed Piastri as their replacement for Fernando Alonso in the 2023 season, but the Australian racer appears to have other plans amid rumours of a ...

Meanwhile, Alpine's original announcement was full of language which made it clear the French team was staking its claim in a driver who has been part of their development programme for the past four years. It sparked suggestions that Piastri was not informed of the announcement, and the exciting young driver has claimed this to be true. Alpine put out a statement on social media confirming their plans to promote the F2 champion to a race seat.

But his Formula One experience is limited to tests of F1 cars, most of which has been paid for by Alpine. The French manufacturer recently laid out a 5,000km testing programme, which is ongoing. Oscar Piastri is considered the ...

However, as the events of this week have shown, with Alpine losing Fernando Alonso to Aston Martin and potentially losing Piastri to McLaren, there are questions about how well run the French team is and whether it will ever be more than a glorified midfield outfit. Most drivers would have felt disrespected and some would have made their feelings known in the media but Ricciardo has been remarkably professional in the face of Brown's manoeuvring. A relative unknown outside of motor racing like Piastri would not fill this gap that would be left by Ricciardo, who is one of the most unique personalities the sport has had in it for a long time. Replacing Ricciardo with another driver isn't going to change that, especially one who is likely going to come with the growing pains associated with any rookie driver in F1. Brown has been lucky that there have not been harsher questions asked about why, under his leadership, McLaren seems incapable of putting together a winning F1 race operation. Multiple sources have told ESPN that Piastri has signed an agreement with McLaren. Although the exact terms of that deal are unclear currently, it is believed Brown is determined to get him into the team's race car. McLaren CEO Zak Brown now appears to be playing a game of chicken with his superstar driver, waiting for him to walk away from his contract so he doesn't have to pay a heavy penalty for tearing it up before it expires at the end of 2023.