Piastri could be allowed to join McLaren before the end of the season
Oscar Piastri is tied to Alpine F1 until the end of the 2022 season before his transfer to McLaren for 2023. The Franco-British team might decide to release Piastri from his 2022 contract earlier than expected.
The contract recognition office, composed of several independent individuals and managed by the FIA, decided on Friday: Piastri is allowed to join McLaren and McLaren didn’t waste time in making it official.
There are still several months left for Piastri as an Alpine driver before joining McLaren. To avoid any inconvenience, whether it be in technical or human resources terms, the young Australian driver could be invited to leave Alpine earlier than the original end of his contract.
Oscar Piastri has officially been appointed as a reserve driver for Alpine. He is driving in the simulator, assisting the team, and attending development meetings.
The officialization only took place recently. On Monday, we will meet and see what we decide. This weekend, he is with us and he is helping in the simulator, explains Otmar Szafnauer, the director of Alpine F1.
I will take the time to think about it after this weekend because there is more to consider.
McLaren, where the Australian driver is heading to, has been a direct competitor to Alpine in recent seasons. By joining McLaren, Piastri will bring with him some of Alpine’s knowledge that Ricciardo hadn’t yet been exposed to when he arrived at McLaren two seasons ago. Therefore, it is in Alpine’s interest not to disclose too much information to Piastri about 2023, and it is advantageous for McLaren to receive their new recruit for 2023 in order to brief and prepare him as early as possible for their new setup.
