Oscar Piastri replaces Daniel Ricciardo at McLaren after rejecting F1 seat at Alpine
Piastri’s contractual situation was heard by Formula 1’s Contract Recognition Board who ruled in McLaren’s favour
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Your support makes all the difference.McLaren have announced the signing of Oscar Piastri as their driver in Formula 1 on a “multi-year contract” - after Alpine originally declared the Australian would race for them.
Last year’s F2 champion Piastri was announced as Alpine’s F1 driver in a press release last month which raised suspicions after it didn’t include any quotes from the 21-year-old himself and, hours later, Piastri insisted this press release had been published “without his permission” and he has “not signed a contract with Alpine for 2023”, adding he will “not be driving for Alpine next year.”
Now Piastri - who is managed by nine-time Grand Prix winner and compatriot Mark Webber - has been announced as a driver for McLaren for 2023 in an announcement made by the Woking-based team, partnering Lando Norris having signed a “multi-year contract.”
McLaren and Alpine both presented their cases to F1’s Contract Recognition Board (CRB) this week with both believing they had eligble contracts for Piastri next year - but the Board announced on Friday they have ruled in favour of McLaren.
A statement from the CRB detailed: “The only Contract to be recognised by is the Contract between McLaren Racing Limited and Mr Piastri dated 4 July 2022. Mr Piastri is entitled to drive for McLaren Racing for the 2023 and 2024 seasons.”
This makes note that Piastri signed a contract with McLaren for two years the day after the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, despite Ricciardo publicly committing his future to the team nine days later on July 13.
Alpine confirmed they will not appeal the decision, with AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly now the favourite to fill the vacant Alpine seat in what would be an all-French line-up alongside Ocon.
“I’m extremely excited to be making my F1 debut with such a prestigious team as McLaren and I’m very grateful for the opportunity that’s been offered to me,” Piastri said.
“The team has a long tradition of giving young talent a chance, and I’m looking forward to working hard alongside Lando to push the team towards the front of the grid. I’m focused on preparing for my F1 debut in 2023 and starting my F1 career in papaya.”
McLaren CEO Zak Brown added: “Oscar is one of the up-and-coming talents coming through the feeder series into F1 and we are delighted to see him join the team for 2023.
“Winning both F3 and F2 in successive rookie seasons is a real achievement and testament to his talent in single-seater racing. In Lando and Oscar we have a young, exciting F1 line-up with a huge amount of potential, standing us in good stead to achieve our future ambitions.
“Oscar is an exciting addition to the McLaren family, and we look forward to seeing him grow with our F1 team.”
A dramatic month or so has seen Fernando Alonso stun the paddock by signing a “multi-year contract” with Aston Martin from next year - reaplcing Sebastian Vettel who announced his retirement - leaving Alpine with a seat to fill to partner Esteban Ocon.
Alpine then announced Piastri before he said in a stunning rebuttal to Alpine 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.”
The Australian joined the Alpine Academy as a teenager and became just the third man after Charles Leclerc and George Russell to win back-to-back drivers’ championships in Formula 2 and Formula 3.
Piastri has enjoyed a string of triumphs in his early stages of his career, winning the 2019 Formula Renault Eurocup and the 2020 Formula 3 Championship as well as last year’s F2 triumph in his rookie season.
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.
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