Ewan Gale & Lars Leeftink
Tuesday, August 9, 2022 12:23 PM
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Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer has suggested there are 14 different candidates for the Alpine vacancy as Oscar Piastri to McLaren leaves.
The French manufacturer has been involved in a conflict with Piastri since last Tuesday, caused by Fernando Alonso‘s sudden departure for Aston Martin. Reigning F2 champion and reserve driver Piastri was announced as the Spaniard’s replacement a day later, but two hours after that announcement, Piastri tweeted that he has not signed a contract and has no intention of racing for Alpine in Formula 1. While Alpine believes Piastri’s contract is legally binding, it is clear that his representatives believe the option in the contract expired before Alonso announced his departure.
chair
The question that now remains is: who are the possible candidates to succeed Alonso and therefore perhaps Piastri. Opposite the Spanish The confidential tells Szafnauer that there is enough interest in the chair. “We’re going to spend some time seeing where this takes us. If Piastri isn’t in the car, and I think it will be, I’ve had about fourteen calls from drivers who are interested. Simply because the Alpine seat is the most valuable chair left.”
Piastri
With an abundance of interested parties to join next Stephen Ocon Szafnauer and Alpine must now find a suitable replacement for two-time world champion Alonso. Despite the likelihood of Piastri joining McLaren as a replacement for Daniel Ricciardo, Szafnauer expects the Australian to be part of a final shortlist of four contenders. Why is the chair at Alpine so valuable according to Szafnauer? “We are fourth in the world championship, Ocon is a good teammate, a good competitor. We have plans to be better than fourth. We have our own power unit, our own facilities and we can easily work together in chassis and engine development to “make the car faster. We have a great technical team of 850 people and we will continue to improve. No wonder so many people call me, but of those fourteen, four will end up on the final list. Including Piastri.”
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