Still continue the plot Alpine-Plates which saw the French team lose two pilots within a few days: before Alonso that has signed a contract with Aston Martin leaving blank Alpine seat for 2023, which Piastres would had to occupy, even if it didn't quite happen that way.
Alpine-Piastri, it's not over yet
As everyone knows by now, Alpine has announced the Australian as a replacement for Alonso and he has denied everything saying of never having signed with the French team; Indeed, the pilot thanks to his manager Mark Webber, a former F1 driver who risked winning a world championship several times, has succeeded to find an agreement with McLaren for 2023. The pilot's curriculum vitae has nothing to envy to drivers of the caliber of Charles Leclerc o George Russell: sample of Formula Renault Eurocup 2019, sample of F3 2020 and sample of F2 2021, waited just a contract in F1 which, however, did not arrive, although Alpine has worked a lot on him in these years and will be able to leverage this to win at least a lawsuit.
Szafnauer: "The investments in him were not few"
The “money” theme was the center of the interview of Otmar Szafnauer, main team of the Alpine to the Spanish newspaper El Confidenziali, in which he explained the big expense made for prepare Piastri for F1 and that it will surely be asked compensation directly from the pilot: “We have a contract which requires us to support him in his career up to Formula 1 by investing a lot of money. But, above all, we have to take into account the fact that last year we put him in a single-seater and he did 3.500 kilometres. We did seven independent tests with it, which isn't a cheap program. The cost of the engine alone is 1.750.000 euros. Then we must consider the mechanics, the team that managed the tests, the flights and the trips. We have spent a lot, a lot of money on Piastri to prepare him for his future in F1. And if that future isn't with us, it's logical and right to ask for compensation.".
It certainly won't be the last time we hear about this story.
ARTICLE BY FRANCESCO ORLANDO
STATEMENT SOURCE: FormulaPassion
