Who will drive alongside Esteban Ocon for Alpine in 2023? The Frenchman has a long-term contract with the team but is yet to find a team-mate for next season. He will presumably choose between two candidates: Fernando Alonso and Formula 2 champion Oscar Piastri.
On the one hand you have an experienced two-time world champion who turns 41 this year, on the other hand you have a rookie who previously won Formula 2 and Formula 3 straight away and who you actually can’t go a second year without driving practice.
Should Alonso, who has not returned to F1 simply to race, be chosen, Piastri will likely be loaned out to another team. A decision will probably be made in two months at the earliest.
“We haven’t quite thought it through yet because it’s still a bit early for that,” says Alpine team boss Otmar Szafnauer. “But we’ll probably talk about it around Silverstone,” he says. The British Grand Prix takes place on July 3rd.
Recently there had been rumors that Alpine could give Piastri to Williams this season to replace Nicholas Latifi, whose performance so far has not been satisfactory. Team boss Jost Capito had vehemently denied that.
Szafnauer also says that there have been no talks in this regard. Still, he would like to find ways to give Piastri more time in the car – apart from the two free practice sessions that every racing team has to allocate to a rookie.
There would have been a chance at the beginning of the season when it was not clear whether Daniel Ricciardo would be fit again in time for the season opener after his corona illness. At the time, Alpine had announced an agreement with McLaren that they could fall back on Piastri in such a case.
“When McLaren asked us if they could use him as a reserve driver, we said yes,” emphasizes Szafnauer. “Because the more time he gets in the car than just sitting outside, the better. We have that strategically in mind.”