Alpine boss Otmar Szafnauer harshly attacks Oscar Piastri in a harsh interview

Alp has been having a very active summer, especially since the beginning of the summer vacation. It all started at 1^private last August and the announcement of Fernando Alonso’s arrival at Aston Martin from the 2023 season is a transfer that does not surprise Otmar Szafnauer, as the director of the French team believes that the double championship will be extended. His contract with the French team: “There were a few minor minor issues and he said his lawyer would get back to us. I believed. Then, before I left, I confirmed to him that we would be signing soon. And he said, ‘Yeah, don’t worry, I didn’t make a deal with anyone else’.“

Alpine has quickly announced that its young nugget Oscar Piastri is arriving in Formula 1 in 2023 to make up for the departure of Fernando Alonso. From Twitter: “Without my agreement, Alpine issued a press release saying I would race for them next season. This is wrong and I have not signed a contract with them for 2023. I won’t be at Alpine next season.“

In an interview published in the Spanish media Hand Hidden On Sunday, August 7th, Otmar Szafnauer returned to the eventful week of Alpine. The 57-year-old leader thus pointed a finger at Oscar Piastri’s behavior after he refused to drive for Alpine: “I expected more loyalty from Piastri. He must have more commitment to the team that took care of him, took him to the World Championships, and above all, put him in a Formula 1 car last year to teach him the tracks. (…) After all the investment we’ve made in preparing it, it must have literally millions and millions of euros of loyalty.”

Otmar Szafnauer, visibly overwhelmed by events, does not seem to have digested Oscar Piastri’s tone: “I expected more loyalty from Oscar than he showed. I started Formula 1 in 1989 and I’ve never seen anything like it. And it’s not about Formula 1, it’s about integrity as a human being. It could be in ice hockey or football, it doesn’t matter. But you are not doing this. He signed a paper, a document, saying he would do something different.”

Despite everything, Otmar Szafnauer did not have the last word on the matter. The Alpine boss still has hope of retaining his young genius: “We have a contract with Piastri that he signed in November, we spoke to our lawyers and they said it’s a binding contract, so part of that contract allows us to put Oscar in one of our cars in 2023, which is why we released the press release. We also have an option for 2024 and the possibility of ‘borrowing’ the driver to another team. We want Fernando with us for another year and a ‘credit’ from the Oscars for 2023. I said in all my press conferences that Piastri would be in Formula 1 in 2023, and that’s because I knew he could be in our car or in the team. If Fernando had stayed, he’d borrow another car.“

Meanwhile, Otmar Szafnauer took the opportunity to throw a spear at Fernando Alonso: “But Alonso, for some reason I think I know him but you have to ask him, he’s going to Aston Martin. So we started closing the deal with Piastri and decided to put him in our car instead of loaning him out. Hence the press release.“The atmosphere will be very icy in the Alp team in the second half of the Formula 1 season.

Benoit Lesueur