The remarkable events of Tuesday around Alpine junior Oscar Piastri — which have been labelled Oscargate and the Piasco online — appeared to confirm McLaren is intent on replacing one Australian in Daniel Ricciardo with another.
McLaren CEO Zak Brown now appears to be playing a game of chicken with his superstar driver, waiting for him to walk away from his contract so he doesn’t have to pay a heavy penalty for tearing it up before it expires at the end of 2023. Ricciardo has exit clauses on his side of his deal, but there is a clear unwillingness from the eight-time race winner to fall on his sword to get Brown out of a legal mess of his own making.
Multiple sources have told ESPN that Piastri has signed an agreement with McLaren. Although the exact terms of that deal are unclear currently, it is believed Brown is determined to get him into the team’s race car. Piastri’s declaration that “I will not be racing at Alpine in 2023” highlighted that he sees his future with McLaren and not Alpine.
McLaren declined to comment when contacted by ESPN.
Piastri’s tweet spawned a remarkable amount of attention in a driver who has not even turned the wheel of a Formula One car during a grand prix weekend yet, which speaks volumes to how well rated the 21-year-old is.
Formula 2 champion Piastri has a brilliant record at junior level and is seen as the best graduate from F1’s feeder series since the class of 2019 — George Russell, Lando Norris and Alex Albon. But his Formula One experience is limited to tests of F1 cars, most of which has been paid for by Alpine. The French manufacturer recently laid out a 5,000km testing programme, which is ongoing.
Of course, whether McLaren can even get Piastri remains to be seen, with Alpine clearly ready to fight to keep their prodigy at the team and driving for them in 2023, however badly the events of the last 24 hours might have soured relations between the two parties. Alpine’s statement that Piastri was getting promoted was the team setting out its legal position that they have no doubts whatsoever about where he is contractually bound to race next season.
That decision will be made by the FIA contract recognition board and, despite the fast-paced drama of Tuesday afternoon, might well take a little bit of time to resolve itself.
Regardless of how that plays out, McLaren’s position seems to…
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