Piastri has agreed a multi-year deal to join McLaren instead of staying at Alpine next year. Alpine thought it had Piastri under contract for 2023 with an option for 2024 as well and wanted to loan Williams its backup driver before eventually promoting him to the works team. F1’s Contract Recognition Board ruled on Friday that only McLaren had a valid contract for Piastri’s services next year, and revealed that this was signed on July 4. This was seven weeks before McLaren announced the early termination of Daniel Ricciardo’s contract, with Ricciardo subsequently admitting he was unaware Piastri’s deal was up at the time. In fact, just a week after Piastri signed a contract with McLaren, Ricciardo publicly insisted on social media that he was “committed to McLaren until the end of next year”. “Obviously, we’re not going into details about what the contract we signed with Oscar contained,” said McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl. “Regarding Daniel, as we’ve been in contact for the past week, I think this whole year, Zac [Brown, McLaren Racing CEO] and Daniel and I have had an open and transparent dialogue at all times about where we both stand. “And therefore, there is no issue in that regard.” Race understands that the comment that there were no details on Piastri’s contract refers to the fact that he had not been expressly signed in a race position for 2023, even if that was McLaren’s absolute wish and intention. It is believed that Piastri’s deal, which covers at least 2023 and 2024, had flexibility depending on whether Ricciardo used up his full three-year deal. Piastri reportedly knew there was a chance he would be McLaren’s reserve driver in 2023 before taking the race seat in 2024. This allowed McLaren to put Piastri under contract and then have time to discuss plans for 2023 with Ricciardo – who is understood to have been at least aware of McLaren’s interest in Piastri when the contract was signed in early July. Once the early termination of Ricciardo’s contract was agreed, McLaren knew that Piastri could replace him. “For us, to be honest, it was very simple,” Seidl said of making sure he would have Piastri. “There are two things you need to have in place if you want to have a driver drive for you in Formula 1, which is a contract, and an entry on a contract identification board. “We implemented this in July. And therefore, our plan was clear.” Another element of this story that has drawn criticism, for Piastri, is Alpine’s accusation that he should have shown more integrity. It has been suggested that Piastri acted inappropriately in chasing a move away from Alpine and especially publicly rejecting the team’s claim that he would be a 2023 driver. This came on Tuesday after the Hungarian Grand Prix, following news that Fernando Alonso – who Alpine had expected to retain for 2023 – would make a shock switch to Aston Martin. Alpine announced Piastri as its 2023 driver on Tuesday afternoon, hinting on Tuesday morning that there were doubts about what he wanted to do. Race understands that by then Piastri had made his intentions clear to the team – and it has even been suggested that Alpine knew what Piastri wanted to do before Alonso’s deal with Aston Martin was announced on Monday. The bottom line is that Piastri had made no secret of his McLaren deal, or at least his desire to move there, from Alpine. But Alpine likely persisted with the announcement because it firmly believed it had a binding agreement with Piastri for 2023 and wanted to stake its claim. This meant that the controversy became public and prompted Piastri to issue a public rejection of the Alps statement, which Piastri did not expect to be issued, as his camp did not want the statement to remain uncontested. In addition to Alpine apparently knowing Piastri’s intentions, Alpine was also responsible for Piastri’s lack of a pre-existing contract with the team. As revealed by RacingNews365, Alpine had only been operating on a ‘capital terms’ deal until 2022, having consistently delayed shipping a contract regularly chased by Piastri’s manager Mark Webber. Piastri hadn’t signed anything, and certainly not for 2023, but Alpine believed the “term sheet” outlined last November was a binding deal. That clash of views eventually led to a CRB hearing this week, one which McLaren had every confidence it would win because Seidl said Piastri’s management had been “very transparent” throughout the process. “Obviously signing a driver at the end is the result of a lot of discussion,” Seidl said. “It’s clear for people like us when you get the chance to sign a guy like Oscar, with the speed he’s shown with the personality he is, you want to have him. “He was free and that’s why we discussed with him to make a contract. That’s pretty much it. “It’s obviously my job, along with Zak, in every scenario to know what the driver market is, what the contract status of all the drivers in the paddock is, or the contract status of the rookies in F2 or other classes. , which is a normal process. “It is also our responsibility. And that’s what finally led to the signing of Oscar Piastri.”
