The news came without any comment from Piastri either in a press release or on his own social media channels, with the announcement of the Australian driver’s future also coming at midnight in his home country. This fueled speculation that the Piastri situation was more complicated than it appeared, with the Australian and his manager Mark Webber having recently made moves to try and bring him to McLaren next season. Piastri has now released a statement on Twitter saying Alpin’s statement was made without his consent and denies he will race for the team in F1 next year. “I understand that, without my consent, Alpine F1 issued a press release late this afternoon that I will be driving for them next year,” Piastri wrote. “This is wrong and I have not signed a contract with Alpine for 2023. I will not ride for Alpine next year.” Double F1 champion Alonso’s shock announcement that he has signed a two-year deal with Aston Martin for next year has opened up the F1 driver market as the series heads into its summer break. Alpine team boss Otmar Szafanauer told a select group of media – including Motorsport.com – on Tuesday morning that the team was only aware of Alonso’s decision when the press release was issued. With Piastri looking unlikely to have a seat at Alpine for 2023 before Alonso’s decision, it is understood that he and his manager – former F1 driver Mark Webber – were close to a deal with McLaren. This would be in place of Daniel Ricciardo, whose future at McLaren has been uncertain for some time due to his underwhelming performance in the car this year despite having a deal until 2023. Although the break clauses in Ricciardo’s contract are believed to be entirely on his side, an attempt by McLaren to sign Piastri to a long-term deal could be enough to make him realize that his long-term future may well be better secured elsewhere. Alpine claimed that, with Alonso moving on, the Enstone-based team had a contractual right to place Piastri in an F1 race seat for next year and appeared to have exercised this earlier today with its own announcement. That may not be the case, however, with some suggesting that Alpine had missed the deadline by which it had to lock Piastri into an F1 race seat in 2023. Therefore, it is likely that Alpine made the announcement as a warning to others that they could face litigation over Piastri’s services, having staked a claim on his services. McLaren has yet to comment on the matter. Read also:
