Among the entries relating to the pilots market in recent days, there is one that concerns the difficult decision that he will have to make Alpine about who to put in the car in 2023 next to Esteban Ocon. The French team is in limbo between Oscar piastri e Fernando Alonso, and the times to decide are not that long.
Double option
At the moment, alongside Ocon there is Fernando Alonso, who despite his forty years of age shows season after season the same tenacity of a rookie. However, his start to the season was not the best, winning only two points against the 24 of his neighbor in the box. However, the Asturian it has no contractual security long-term as the teammate; Indeed, Alonso it is about to expire at the end of this season.
While on one side there is the veteran with two titles on his shoulders, on the other there is the rookie who is hungry to prove his skills. Oscar piastri in fact, he made himself noticed to say the least in the minor categories, conquering the world championship formula 3 e formula 2 on debut. The young Australian, unfortunately, at the moment finds himself in clothes that do not suit him, acting as reserve pilot in the French stable.
The risk
Alpine has in its hands a potential jewel, and it's not in his interest to waste it. If the Enstone team fail to remove from the bench the Australian putting him in the car – effectively deciding to confirm Alonso – would risk seeing the promising youngster fleeing to other horizons. However, it cannot be excluded that Alpine decides to play cunning, lending Piastri to the Williams waiting to be able to deploy it in the future.
Szafnauer's words
Otmar Szafnauer, Alpine's team principal, gave an anticipation on the time frame within which the team could make the decision"we haven't thought about it yet, because it's a bit early. But around Silverstone we'll probably talk about it." Alpine's number one also spoke about the rumors that Piastri was playing Williams since mid-season in lieu of a limp Latifs: "I haven't really thought about it yet. I don't know what's going on at Williams, but I've heard the rumors".
The missed debut
A chance to see Piastri debut in the top flight it had already been there, and it was when in the start of the season Ricciardo it was result positive for Covid. Daniel, however, fortunately recovered quickly, and Piastri was left on his feet. Szafnauer explained why he had accepted the request McLaren regarding the replacement of Ricciardo: “in the past when McLaren came to us and said, 'hey, we can use it like reserve pilot?', we said yes. The reason for this is that more time on the track can get instead of standing out, the better. So we would have it strategically in mind. But as far as what's going on at Williams, I don't know".
Source: F1general
