Piastri insists he told Alpine “multiple times” he would not drive for them in 2023 · RaceFans

Oscar Piastri has dismissed Alpine’s claims he indicated he would drive for them in 2023, after the FIA’s Contract Recognition Board confirmed he has a valid agreement with rivals McLaren next year.

Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer last week accused Piastri of lacking “integrity” and said the driver had indicated he was “thankful” when told he would drive for the team next year.

However Piastri, who is in his third year as an Alpine junior driver, insists he told the team on more than one occasion he would not continue with them in 2023. Despite that, the team announced following the Hungarian Grand Prix he would take the seat Fernando Alonso will vacate at the end of this season.

Piastri said his decision “was made well in advance” of that, which “made Alpine’s announcement probably even more confusing and upsetting because we had told the team that I wasn’t going to continue.” He told the official F1 website it was “upsetting as the announcement was false and it also denied me the opportunity to properly say goodbye to everyone at Enstone”.

Soon after Alpine’s announcement, Piastri reacted by stating on social media he would not drive for them in a post which concluded by describing the team’s statement as “wrong”.

“I had been with team for a bit over two and a half years now, and for the rest of the team to find out I was leaving in that manner was very upsetting,” he said. “I still haven’t had the opportunity to say goodbye and it’s something I want to do to show my gratitude to all the men and women at Enstone.”

Szafnauer said he informed Piastri of their decision to promote him while he was working on the team’s simulator. Piastri’s recollection of the encounter was slightly different.

“That was a bizarre and frankly upsetting episode,” he said. “It was done publicly in front of some members of the team who were oblivious to the situation and I didn’t want to cause a scene in front of them.

“Once we were in private, I told Otmar what our position was and what he had been told multiple times before that. It was very surprising to me to make that announcement”.

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Piastri said he felt it was necessary to publicly correct Alpine’s claim he would join the team.

“It was the biggest moment of my career and probably my life up to now,” he explained. “To have that falsely announced was something my management and I felt we had to correct and…