“I know that if no agreement is reached, Alpine F1 issued a press release late this afternoon, which I will drive for them next year,” Piastri wrote.
“It’s wrong, I haven’t signed a contract for 2023. I won’t drive to the Alps next year.” Piastri (who was the Alpine reserve team at the time) turned down the team in this public way for McLaren to reject McLaren in nearly three years, and it’s clear that he made the right choice. Piastri has won four of six games this season and is in a three-game winning streak.
He scored 131 points, while the Alpine had a total of 7 points, winning the game about four years ago for the last time. Piastri won the fourth straight win in Sunday’s Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix as he fought on Saturday’s traffic, but suspected the bumpy Imola track could mean McLaren was more intense than he had in Miami two weeks ago.
“It’s a great start when you win four out of six. I’ve been enjoying the pace of success, but for me, it’s satisfying to me that all the work we did behind the scenes to achieve that.”
“When you win the race, it’s a completely different feeling because you feel like you’ve just lived or had a good environment. But now you’ve won because our cars are very fast and I feel like I’m driving well, which is satisfying.”
Meanwhile, Ferrari had a bad game on Saturday, both of them in the top ten. The largest Verstappen in red only dropped by 0.034 after the second second of the Piastri era. George Russell ranked third with Mercedes, pushing Australia’s McLaren teammate and champion rival Lando Norris to fourth place. Piastri and McLaren once again hit their fastest speeds in two practices Friday, but only teammates and champion rival Lando Norris have a narrow edge.
In the first session, Piastri was the fastest in Norris’ leading 0.0032. Carlos Sainz Jr. defending champion Max Verstappen is just seventh for Red Bulls. Piastri and McLaren stretched out the other teams in Norris with a .025 lead in the second session, but Alps’ Pierre Gasly scored 0.276 on the third. There are red flags for both sessions.
As Gabriel Bortoleto glides from the track and digs out the obstacle, he stops the first, swings the assist in the gravel, while the second time the racer breaks the racer’s Isack Hadjar of the racing bull and spins into the obstacle. The Alps don’t challenge the top teams, but the drama is pole position. Renault-owned team is expected to release Australian driver Jack Doohan as a swift but inconsistent reserve Franco Colapinto.
At Miami GP, team principal Oliver Oakes dismissed the claim, but two days after Oakes suddenly resigned in Miami match. A day later, the Alpine gave up Doohan after Miami GP, with the best match at No. 13 and promoted to Colapinto. The Argentine driver was pleased to be back to F1, but on Thursday expressed reservations about how the whole process was handled.
