Fernando Alonso has posted a meaningful ‘thumbs up’ video shortly following Oscar Piastri posted a refusal to sign a contract with the Alpine F1 team for 2023.
For Alpine F1 Team, a dramatic F1 summer break began when Aston Martin F1 announced on Monday morning that Fernando Alonso was leaving Alpine F1 Team following signing a multi-year deal.
At that point, Oscar Piastri, who had been waiting for the chance to race in F1 since joining Alpine F1’s academy in 2019 and winning the F2 championship in 2021, was in the race seat alongside Esteban Ocon. Getting promoted seemed like a no-brainer.
Alpine F1 Team officially announced on Tuesday night that test and reserve driver Oscar Piastri will step up to race driver for 2023. Unusually, however, the press release only quoted team principal Otmar Szafnauer, not the driver himself.
A few hours later, I received a tweet from Oscar Piastri denying the Alpine F1 team’s announcement.
“This is wrong. I have not signed a contract with Alpine for 2023. I am not going to drive for Alpine next year.”
That statement lends credence to earlier rumors that 21-year-old Oscar Piastri may have had a better offer. Piastri manager Mark Webber has reportedly approached McLaren for a potential replacement for Daniel Ricciardo.
Fernando Alonso posted a video on Instagram just as Oscar Piastri’s tweet was posted.
In just five seconds of the clip, Fernando Alonso, walking down the streets of his hometown of Oviedo, smirks and gives a thumbs-up as he designates a song with the lyric “It feels like summer” as the soundtrack. To ridicule rumors of F1 driver transfer “Silly season”.
It has been suggested that there have been disagreements between Fernando Alonso and the Alpine F1 team over the length of the new contract proposed by the team. Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi was reportedly keen to secure Alonso’s drive in a potential WEC (FIA World Endurance Championship) in the next few years.
— Out of Context F1 / 200k (@f1nocontext) August 2, 2022
Category: F1 / Fernando Alonso / Alpine / Oscar Piastri
