Oscar Piastri ‘will not be driving for Alpine next year’ despite team announcement

In an embarrassing turn of events for Alpine, Piastri denied he had signed a contract with the team

Oscar Piastri denied Alpine’s announcement (Getty Images)

Oscar Piastri says he will not be driving for Alpine next season, just hours after the Formula One team announced he would be replacing Fernando Alonso.

Piastri, the Formula 2 champion, said Alpine’s announcement earlier in the day that he would take their vacant 2023 seat had been made without his agreement.

Alpine’s press release did not contain quotes from the 21-year-old, sparking uncertainty at whether Piastri was even aware of the team’s decision.

And in an embarrassing turn of events for Alpine, just hours after their statement Piastri reacted to the news by denying that he had signed a contract for next season.

The Australian 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.

“This is wrong and I have not signed a contract with Alpine for 2023. I will not be driving for Alpine next year.”

Piastri is a test driver at Alpine and, with two-time world champion Alonso leaving to replace Sebastian Vettel at Aston Martin, seemed a good fit for the team.

But there have also been rumours that Piastri has held talks with McLaren, with Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer suggesting there was a “pre-agreement” elsewhere.

“There are some considerations going from a reserve driver contract with options to becoming a racing driver contract,” Szafnauer said earlier on Tuesday.

“ I’m not privy to whatever pre-arrangement he has with McLaren if any at all but I hear the same rumours you do. But I do know he does have contractual obligations to us and we do to him.”

Piastri has nine-time Grand Prix winner and fellow Aussie Mark Webber as his manager and the former Red Bull driver had previously stated his protege must be on the F1 grid by next year.

He became the sixth driver to win GP2/F2 in his debut year and has in 2022 been testing the 2021 Alpine F1 car, the A521, in locations such as Silverstone and Qatar while waiting in the wings for a spot on the grid to open up.

There was talk of Piastri being “loaned” out to Williams next year but a spot at his home team opened up after 41-year-old Spaniard Alonso surprisingly joined Aston next year on a “multi-year contract”, replacing Vettel who announced his retirement from F1 last week.