Oscar Piastri has claimed he will not drive an Alpine car next season, just hours after the Formula 1 team announced it had promoted its reserve driver to replace Fernando Alonso.
Alonso surprised the team on Monday, announcing he will drive for Aston Martin in 2023. Alpine needed just one day to announce it had promoted the talented 21-year-old Australian to drive alongside Esteban Ocon in 2023.
However, the Melbourne native denied the news.
“I understand that Alpine F1 issued a statement this afternoon without my consent announcing that I will be driving for them next year. This is wrong and I have not signed a contract with Alpine for 2023. I will not be driving for Alpine next year,” Piastri wrote in a Twitter post.
Alpine’s statement did not include a comment from Piastri. Rumor has it that the reigning F2 champion is negotiating a better contract with another team.
In Alpine’s announcement, manager Otmar Szafnauer called Piastri a “brilliant and rare talent”, who is “more than capable of taking the next step in Formula 1”.
Aston Martin announced on Monday that it has signed Alonso, the 41-year-old double world champion, to replace Sebastian Vettel, who announced last week that he will retire at the end of the current season. Alonso’s contract with Alpine expires at the end of the 2022 season.
Alpine added that Piastri was already following “an intensive training programme” this season in order to “prepare him for the next big step” in F1.
“As a reserve driver, he was exposed to the team on the track, in the factory and in testing, where he demonstrated maturity, a bright future and the speed needed to secure promotion alongside Esteban, Szafnauer said. Together, we believe this duo will give us the continuity needed to achieve our long-term goal of striving for wins and championships. »