Alonso or Zhou or Piastri? Alpine CEO Provides an Update on Ocon’s Possible 2022 F1 Teammate

Formula One were fans surprised and shocked when they heard Fernando Alonso was returning to the grid with Alpine. He has shown decent results so far this season and many people expect to see him driving for Alpine next year too. However, he is on a ‘1+1’ deal, which means the Spaniard’s association with the team in 2022 depends on his wishes.

And even though his teammate, Esteban Ocon, has been in a slump for the past few weeks, he did manage to outperform the two-time world champion at the start of the season.

Above all, the team trust the Frenchman and have signed him till 2024. So, there is no doubt whether he will drive for the team next year. But the question still remains – who will take Alpine’s second seat in 2022?

New deal for Fernando Alonso might put a halt on the future of the team’s young drivers

Alpine have two great drivers in their junior ranks that could lead them to glory in F1. The likes of Guanyu Zhou and Oscar Piastri will have to be sacrificed if the 39-year-old puts pen to paper for the 2022 season.

CEO Laurent Rossi was asked by the BBC about Alonso’s future in the French team. He replied, “He is doing great.”

Rossi continued, “He is as fast as ever. He is certainly extracting the most out of the car.

“He is doing everything for me to consider exercising this [contractual] option,” Rossi concluded.

However, he is keeping his cards close to his chest with regards to 2022. “At the end of 2022 I have the likes of [Alpine young drivers Oscar] Piastri [and Guanyu] Zhou knocking at the door and at the same time Fernando winning race after race. At least I have those options.”

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The Spaniard feels that he is getting his old self back

The two-time world champion was motivated as he was preparing for the 2021 season. However, he didn’t make the strong impact he wanted to with this return. Despite that, he has managed to improve his form and has scored significant point for himself and his team.

And now, Alonso is confident about getting back to the best version of himself.

As quoted by PlanetF1, the Spaniard said, “Yeah, I think I’m feeling better and I’m feeling more of a racer now. The first couple of weekends, Bahrain, Imola, it was like everything was starting from zero.

“[I was] very conscious of many things and trying not to make mistakes for the team. It’s different now, I’ve got more confidence in the car so I can use my instinct a little bit more now,” the 39-year-old concluded.

Do you think will Alpine will look at the results and offer Alonso a contract for next year? Let us know your predictions about Fernando’s future in the comments below.

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