Veteran British journalist Joe Saward, at the head of Joeblogsf1 and Autoweek magazine, has leaked the details of the renewal of Fernando Alonso for Alpinewhich he says would be closed for the next two seasons, until 2024. Although the news is not official -and the announcement could be delayed until the summer-, paddock sources give credibility to the information released by Saward.
The two-time Spanish champion’s contract with Alpine expires at the end of this season, but during the Australian Grand Prix Fernando was already open to continue “two or three more years” and dropped that it could be in another team. After last Sunday’s race at Imola, Alonso once again insisted on his desire to remain active and said that he would do so until someone manages to beat him “by pure skill.”
According to Saward, “everything indicates that Fernando will soon sign a new two-year contract with Alpine, which means he would stay until the end of 2024.” The recent personal sponsorship announcement signed by Alonso with Castrol -a company that also promotes Alpine-, would have been key in renewing the Spaniard with his current team despite his veiled threats of change in Australia since his results in the first four This year’s races have been disappointing, basically due to reliability issues with the A522.
Piastri’s future
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Alpine has Esteban Ocon on the payroll until the end of 2024 and also the young ‘pearl’ of the quarry, Oscar Piastri, current champion of the F2 anteroom category (he also won F3 before) and who this year acts as a tester in the French team. The Australian driver has already warned that next season he wants a steering wheel and that if he does not find a place in Alpine (because of Alonso’s continuity), he will look for alternatives.
Saward describes a much talked about solution in the Imola paddock, which would go through the transfer of Piastri to Williams in 2023, if the British team finally decides to do without Canadian Nicholas Latifi, the protagonist of numerous incidents. Beyond 2024, Alonso could return to the Endurance World Championship with Alpine and Oscar Piastri would have his F1 seat secured.