Alpine could go to court in Oscar Piastri saga

Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer says that the team would be willing to go to court to get compensation if Oscar Piastri does not race for them next year.

The summer break has been anything from quiet this year with several twists and turns taking place in the last couple of weeks involving the driver market.

Indeed, Fernando Alonso’s exit to Aston Martin from Alpine for 2023 has sparked quite the saga, with it being expected that Piastri would step up to the seat, only for it to become apparent that he could be set to drive for McLaren.

McLaren have reportedly told Daniel Ricciardo he is being replaced for 2023 and so the team seem set on bringing Oscar in as well, though Alpine believe that they have an agreement in place for the young Aussie to be driving for them next year alongside Esteban Ocon, with them bringing him through the ranks as part of their driver programme.

It’s made for fascinating viewing thus far, and it could only get more heated in the weeks ahead with Szafnauer telling Reuters that Alpine will seek compensation for the time and resource they have put into Piastri’s career if he refuses to drive for them in 2023:

“If the [Contract Recognition Board] says ‘your licence is only valid at Alpine’, and then he [Piastri] says ‘that’s great but I’m never driving for them, I’ll just sit out a year’, then you’ve got to go to the High Court for compensation.

“We haven’t sat down with the accountants to figure out everything we’ve spent. We will have to do that if we go to the High Court.”

Things could get expensive for somebody if this is the route we end up going down, and it certainly looks as though it’s a very possible avenue.

Piastri has gone on record on social media saying that he is not going to