Home/F1

via Getty

via Getty

Two great drivers – one vastly experienced and a former World Champion, another widely known as one of the best young talents going forward – to none of the 2. Alpine had swiftly lost a lot in the Oscar Piastri and Daniel Ricciardo saga.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Alpine had Fernando Alonso, an ex-World Champion as their #1 driver and Oscar Piastri as their backup for Alonso. They thought Alonso’s tutelage would provide immeasurable benefits for the young Piastri.

But McLaren had other plans. McLaren wanted to replace the badly out-of-form Daniel Ricciardo. They saw in Piastri a driver who would suit the team and a good #2 to Lando Norris.

McLaren took what they wanted. The saga has been discussed a lot given the popularity of Ricciardo among F1 fans as well as the public nature of the dispute. But Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi believes McLaren has misled people with its statements.

via Getty

In an interview with Auto Motosport, he saidHe was playing for time a bit but told us he had an opportunity to drive for McLaren. We found that strange. Ricciardo was still there and McLaren announced on July 6 that they wanted to continue with Daniel.

As it turned out later, Oscar had already signed with McLaren on July 4th. That sounded very opaque to us. So we still assumed he had an obligation to us. We felt like he owed us something after all the preparation. After all, there is such a thing as loyalty. (Translated via Google Translate)

Read More: “Chopped Off the Hand That Fed Him”: Alpine Leaves Venomous Parting Words to Oscar Piastri, Laced With Grim “Michael Schumacher” Warning

Rossi’s words shed more light on a saga that has gone on for months now. No part of it has been pretty. Piastri’s entry into McLaren is far from ideal.

Daniel Ricciardo was blindsided by McLaren’s secret acquisition

Visibly the men at Alpine drew the short straw. And they aren’t one bit happy with how they were (allegedly) ‘played’ by Piastri. But Ricciardo was one more party that got injured as part of this whole clandestine operation.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

via Reuters

As McLaren readied to take on Piastri from Alpine, they left their own Australian injured as part of the parley. Daniel was under the impression for most time that he would be racing under McLaren’s colors for 2023. But as has been revealed, his contract was terminated prematurely by Zak Brown and the team.

Meanwhile, Oscar was seduced by the idea of a #2 role at McLaren – a much more significant role compared to the reserve driver role that, Rossi admits, Alpine was offering. He said “He was disappointed that we bet on Alonso and not on him straight away. And he didn’t want to drive for Williams.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Watch This Story: Daniel Ricciardo’s Best Moments in F1

As Rossi said, Oscar will need to show his mettle as soon as he begins his F1 career. That is going to be a big task. Only time can tell if he can do that.