The various social platforms of the Alpine have fallen into a sort of cryogenic sleep since 2 August. The latest content published – still present – is that relating to the announcement of Oscar piastri as constituent of Fernando Alonso, who the previous day announced his transfer to Aston Martin, orphan of Sebastian Vettel. The two-times world champion has left Alpine with the possibility of giving Piastri that coveted seat, without resorting to smaller teams, such as the Williams. However, this "courtesy" from Alonso came too late, putting Alpine e in difficulty Piastri, who in the meantime would have turned to McLaren by signing a pre-contract without the knowledge of the French team, with which he had a contract. This would lead him to refuse the promotion of the Alpine, denying the announcement propagated by the team.
Alpine in trouble?
Piastri is convinced not to race in Alpine in 2023 and that the contract is invalid. But then why doesn't the team delete the announcement post? One of the hypotheses is that Alpine is sure it can keep Piastri by challenging the contracts, and that it is waiting for the conclusion of the legal procedures to proceed. But despite this, the situation of the team, discharged by Piastri and Alonso, reflects a decidedly uncomfortable position. Closing with Piastri is obviously a priority, but the team is less desperate than it seems and would have several alternatives. According to Szafnauer, there are already 14 candidates to replace Alonso, but only 4 will be taken into consideration, including Piastri. “I have about fourteen phone calls from interested riders, why the Alpine seat is the most valuable left. No wonder so many call me, but of these fourteen there will be four in the final list. And among these there is also Piastri” he said Otmar Szafnauer to the Spanish newspaper The Confidential. The other three places could be reserved for Daniel Ricciardo, should McLaren want to unload him for Piastri, Pierre Gasly e Mick Schumacher, not yet armored by Haas.

The situation with Piastri
The Alpine team principal also clarified the decision on Piastri's announcement: “We have a contract with Piastri, who signed in November, we spoke with our lawyers and they told us that it is a binding contract, so part of the contract allows us to put Oscar on one of our cars in 2023, which is why we issued the press release . There is also an option for 2024 and the possibility to 'loan' the driver to another team. We wanted Fernando with us for another year, hence the 'loan' of Piastri to another team. I've always 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 another, on loan, if Fernando stayed. With Alonso in Aston Martin, the seat for Oscar became available and therefore we released the press release”.
Source statements: FormulaPassion