Alpine has great appreciation for reserve driver Oscar Piastri, but there is no vacancy for the Australian on the team. Well-informed British journalist Joe Savard claims Alpine is ready to release the young rider to another team for several years to gain experience.
Rumor has it that Oscar may go to Haas, where they are dissatisfied with the results of Mick Schumacher, who is inferior to team-mate Kevin Magnussen in speed.
“There weren’t that many blue Alpine caps in the stands at Albert Park, but that number could increase next year with another Italian-Australian Oscar Piastri at the start,” writes Joe Savard. – The French team is doing well with the riders, which is a problem to some extent. Despite his age, Fernando Alonso is still fast and Esteban Ocon regularly outruns his teammate. Ocon has a three-year contract, while Alonso’s contract expires at the end of the year, but Fernando himself does not want to leave. At the same time, Alpine wants to keep Piastri.
Three riders won’t fit behind the wheel of two cars, so Alpine is already looking for opportunities for Oscar to spend one or two seasons on another team. Alternatively, they can offer Fernando to continue his career in touring car racing.
On the one hand, Alpine has a nice problem to solve, but on the other hand, they don’t have a “sister” team in Formula 1, so for Piastri they have to look for a contract next to it. The opportunities for this are not many, as other factory teams are also looking for places for their young talents. The number of options for Piastri is limited.
Alpine may release their rider for a season or two, but not forever. Rumor has it that Haas might like the idea of teaming up with Oscar, as Ferrari protégé Mick Schumacher is clearly struggling to keep up with Kevin Magnussen. And this is in a situation where Kevin has not yet reached the peak of his form. Mick’s crash in Saudi Arabia shows the young rider trying to jump over his head in an attempt to match his teammate’s speed. So this story must be followed.
However, it will still be some time before decisions are made. If Fernando or Esteban don’t live up to expectations in 2022, it’s possible that next time, thanks to the Oscars, the stands in Melbourne will turn blue.
Source: F1 News
I’m Todderic Kirkman, a journalist and author for athletistic. I specialize in covering all news related to sports, ranging from basketball to football and everything in between. With over 10 years of experience in the industry, I have become an invaluable asset to my team. My ambition is to bring the most up-to-date information on sports topics around the world.
