FIA confirms Piastri’s contract with McLaren

The FIA ​​Contract Recognition Council has given its verdict: the agreement between Oscar Piastri and McLaren is perfectly valid. Despite complaints from Alpine, which has been preparing its reserve driver for a start – at Enstone or elsewhere – for some time, he will indeed take the direction of Woking for the 2023 and 2024 seasons. Piastri leaves his stable current with a bucket to fill, while she was previously tearing her hair out to find a solution that suits the young wolf and veteran Fernando Alonso, who finally left for Aston Martin.

Piastri will therefore replace his compatriot Daniel Ricciardo at McLaren following the latter’s disappointing performance since his arrival in orange and is reveling in making his debut for this legendary team, like Lewis Hamilton, Kevin Magnussen and Stoffel Vandoorne in the 21st century. .

“I am extremely happy to make my F1 debut with such a prestigious team as McLaren and I am very grateful for the opportunity given to me.says Piastri, who signed with the team on July 4th. “The team has a long tradition of giving young talent a chance, and I’m looking forward to working alongside Lando to push the team to the front of the grid. I’m focused on preparations for my F1 debut in 2023.”

At McLaren, of course, we are delighted to have achieved such a coup: snatching from Alpine, the team’s direct competitor in the constructors’ championship, the driver who won the Formula Renault Eurocup, FIA F3 and Formula 2 from 2019 to 2021.

“The whole team is delighted to welcome Oscar to McLaren for the 2023 season,” adds team principal Andreas Seidl. “He has had an impressive career so far and we are sure that with Lando he can help us move forward and take our ambitions to the next level. We still have a lot of work to do this season, and the team remains focused on that, then making sure Oscar is onboarded as quickly as possible and ready for the challenges ahead. We look forward to preparing for this 2023 season together.”

“Oscar is one of the promising talents who have come through the promotion formulas and we are delighted to have him join the team for 2023”confirms Zak Brown, CEO McLaren Racing. “By winning both F3 and F2 in his first season, he showed his talent in single-seaters. In Lando and Oscar, we have a young and exciting duo with huge potential to fulfill our future ambitions. Oscar is a terrific addition to the McLaren family and we can’t wait to see him grow up with us.”

On the side of Alpine, we accept the decision through a terse press release: “BWT Alpine F1 Team thanks the Contract Recognition Board (CRB) for meeting on Monday, and we take note of the decision it has taken. We consider the matter closed on our side and we will announce our driver pairing for 2023 in due course. Our immediate target is the Dutch Grand Prix and getting points in our fight for fourth place in the constructors’ championship.”

The tricolor team must now make up for the double defection of Alonso and Piastri and is interested in Pierre Gasly, who is however under contract with Red Bull until the end of 2023. An agreement should then be reached with the Austrian brand so that he comes to support another pilot from Normandy, Esteban Ocon.

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