Alpine boss Laurent Rossi has once again harshly criticized top talent Oscar Piastri – and revealed that the team feared a sudden drop in performance when negotiating with Formula 1 veteran Fernando Alonso.
Fernando Alonso? Way to Aston Martin! Oscar Piastri? Way to McLaren! In terms of personnel, the last few weeks and months at Alpine have been a nightmare.
The Renault factory team is still in Formula 1 with only one confirmed driver for the 2023 season. Who drives next to Esteban Ocon is open – also because the French gambled thoroughly in the courtship of Alonso.
“We really wanted to keep him, but we couldn’t commit to more than two years because we had a three-year option with Piastri,” Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi said in an interview “Auto Motor Sport”.
Alpine feared “burglary” at Fernando Alonso
Against this background, the “maximum” for Alonso was a one-year contract with an option for another season and a follow-up deal as a long-distance pilot, according to Rossi. “Fernando is fantastic. He drives at an extremely high level. For me, he’s one of the best drivers of all time. But he’s 41 years old. In two years he will be 43. You can’t plan that far ahead anymore.”
Formula 1 is a “very demanding sport. At this age, the slump can come from one year to the next. So we couldn’t commit ourselves for so long,” said Rossi, who in this context is responsible for the employees at Alpine and Renault pointed out. “We cannot make irrational decisions that involve risk.”
Alonso decided against the offer from his current employer and switched to Aston Martin – probably “on better terms”, as Rossi suspected. “We are sad about it, but not resentful. It is his right to choose something else.”
The Alpine CEO, on the other hand, found clear words for Piastri, whom the Formula 1 racing team initially confirmed as Alonso’s successor, but ultimately lost to McLaren after a mud fight that was partly public.
“Oscar would do well to be fast and deliver results next year. But even if he becomes the new Michael Schumacher, this story will stick with him forever,” said Rossi.
Causa Piastri a “dangerous precedent” for Formula 1?
There is “no excuse” for the behavior of the 21-year-old Australian, who unwound thousands of test kilometers in the Alpine this year and was considered a man of the future there.
“He cut off the hand that was feeding him and played with us because some draft contracts weren’t presented in time,” Rossi rumbled.
With his move, Piastri “set a dangerous precedent for our sport,” added the Frenchman.
Legal action against the future McLaren driver in order to possibly get back the money invested in him was left open by Rossi. “We’re checking that out. In the end, it’s a decision by Otmar (Szafnauer, Alpine team boss, editor’s note) and the lawyers. We have to learn from this episode.”