How will the situation around Oscar Piastri develop?

Sebastian Vettel’s decision to end his F1 career at the end of the season set off a series of events in the transfer market, with Oscar Piastri at the center. Aston Martin heard about Sebastian’s decision in advance, held talks with Fernando Alonso and signed a multi-year contract with him.

The British team and the Spanish rider managed to keep the negotiations secret – on Sunday evening after the finish of the Hungarian Grand Prix, Alpine head Otmar Safnauer left the track in full confidence that he would sign a new contract with Alonso after the summer break, but the next day, along with the whole world, he learned from an Aston Martin press release that there is a vacancy on his team for 2023.

Alpine announced on Tuesday that Oscar Piastri would become Esteban Ocon’s teammate in 2023, but a few hours later the Australian driver gave a rebuttal. If the parties cannot reach an agreement, there is a good chance that the court will have to resolve the disputed situation. Something similar already happened in Formula 1 in 2004, when the BAR and Williams teams announced a 2005 contract with Jenson Button.

BAR eventually won the race for the driver when the F1 Contract Recognition Board ruled in their favor, even though the driver wanted to drive for Williams. It is curious that Otmar Szafnauer, who was then vice president of Honda Racing, took part in that test.

Should the dispute between Alpine and Piastri develop into a lawsuit, the outcome of the case will largely depend on what is in the contract. According to unconfirmed information leaked to the European press, there was a clause in Oscar’s contract with Alpine under which he could negotiate with other teams if Alpine did not offer him a lead driver contract for 2023 by July 31.

Apparently Oscar did not get an offer as Alpine was confident in continuing the partnership with Fernando Alonso. However, the Spanish driver was certainly aware of the contract situation with Piastri, as the announcement of his move to Aston Martin was made on August 1 and sounded like a bolt from the blue for Alpine management.

Fernando’s role in this story was not limited to one transition to Aston Martin. Minutes after Piastri released his statement, Alonso posted a short clip of Oviedo on his social media showing his thumbs up. In the comments, many fans interpreted Fernando’s gesture only as support for Oscar’s words.

Somehow, if Piastri doesn’t play for Alpine in 2023, the most likely option is a move to McLaren, where he will replace Daniel Ricciardo. Daniel himself recently confirmed his intention to complete the contract with the team, which expires at the end of 2023. Most likely McLaren will have to pay compensation to Daniel for the early termination of the contract and the Australian driver will have to look for other options to continue his career.

The most obvious is the return to Alpine – for this team Ricciardo spent two seasons when it was called Renault.