Oscar Piastri will not make EL1 with Alpine in Belgium

While Alan Permanente, the technical director ofAlpine, had indicated in Hungary that Oscar Piastri would ride for Alpine in EL1 “at Spa or Monza for the first time”, it should not be in Belgium.

Published on 23/08/2022 à 15:16

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Oscar Piastri will not make EL1 with Alpine in Belgium

Oscar Piastri will probably have to wait a little longer before making his debut in FP1. © Xavi Bonilla / DPPI

Since this year, the sporting regulations require the racing teams to F1 to run at least one rookie during two free practice sessions 1 in order to give the young shoots a chance. For Alpine, the choice to trust Oscar piastri, reigning champion of F2 and reserve driver of the team, was of course very obvious. In Hungary, technical director Alan Permane, at a press conference, indicated that Spa-Francorchamps (August 26-28) or Monza (September 9-11) could constitute one of the two sessions planned for the Australian.

Since then, of course, the context has changed. Fernando Alonso left Alpine for Aston Martin to everyone's surprise, and whileAlpine announced the tenure of the Australian alongsideEsteban Ocon for 2023, Piastri refuted having signed any contract with the Blues, even going so far as to specify that he would not ride for Alpine next year, after having agreed with McLaren. Therefore, unless an amicable solution is found, the matter should go to the High Court, Alpine wanting to assert his rights after investing heavily to prepare the Aussie for his F1 debut. The hearing could be held in October.

Oscar Piastri will probably have to wait a little longer before making his debut in FP1. © Xavi Bonilla / DPPI

While waiting for the dispute to be resolved, will Oscar Piastri drive in FP1 as initially planned? The answer is yes. Alpine told AUTOhebdo that the brand “would honor all its commitments” taken with regard to Oscar Piastri, and that the latter would be fine in the simulator and in the car, as planned, FP1 included. The French brand, however, told us that the Aussie would not take part in EL1 at Spa-Francorchamps, although the possibility had been mentioned by Permane in Hungary.

Alpine will respect its commitments, mainly so as not to be at fault, but to enstone, given the current context, we obviously prefer to wait until things settle down, or even be resolved. This should probably not happen during the next three rounds, contested in triple headers (Belgium, Zandvoort, Italy).

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