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BARCELONA, SPAIN – MAY 19: Oscar Piastri of Australia, Alpine F1 Reserve Driver walks in the Paddock during previews ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Spain at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on May 19, 2022 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)
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BARCELONA, SPAIN – MAY 19: Oscar Piastri of Australia, Alpine F1 Reserve Driver walks in the Paddock during previews ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Spain at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on May 19, 2022 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)
Apart from the Bahrain Grand Prix, the 2022 silly season was the most embarrassing turn of events for Alpine. The French team was left red-faced after both Fernando Alonso and Oscar Piastri snubbed the team. Piastri turning his back on the team was especially humiliating because of the public nature of it. Moreover, the team lost all the investment they put in the prodigal Australian. This is exactly why Alpine’s mother company Renault’s CEO made a statement protecting the team from similar mishaps.
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The CEO discussed the team’s new contract policies on the Beyond the Grid podcast, as quoted by RacingNews365. He revealed, “We have a number of things to learn, such as the fact that there is not really such a thing as loyalty, especially when individual interests are at stake. It should be the standard to return to a team that helped you. Well, we’re going to change that. We’ve become a bit more corporate and protective with our contracts now. It’s stricter now when you sign something with Alpine.”
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BARCELONA, SPAIN – MAY 20: Oscar Piastri of Australia. Alpine F1 Reserve Driver walks in the Paddock prior to practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Spain at. Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on May 20, 2022. in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
The CEO Laurent Rossi questioned Piastri’s loyalty. However, Piastri’s agent Mark Webber argued the McLaren man wanted to remain as loyal as possible. Piastri’s loyalty is up for debate with opinions changing depending on how you look at it.
Read More: Alpine Left Anxious Over Controversy-Filled Oscar Piastri McLaren Move In Scary New Confession
Rossi clearly does not agree with Webber. However, the talk of loyalty has gotten the fans involved as well and they are making their case for the young Australian on Twitter.
Oscar Piastri gets the public vote over his questionable loyalty toward Alpine
The fans are pointing out how Alpine did not make their plans clear to the Australian and kept him in the dark. Some also believe being non-competitive for three years following a championship win in F2 wasn’t an option for Piastri.
Loyalty? Alpine only wanted him after Alonso left them hanging. You chose not to promote him after 3 straight championships and a year as a reserve. Where was your loyalty?
— Trevor McCue (@trevormccue) March 11, 2023
Oscar went .and Alonso too. The fact that Alonso did it for way less money says something about Alpine . Rossi and Ottmar really can’t digest their failures who made this happen and still have a tantrum while Oscar a 21 years old endures it silent from first minute on
— Gaby🧡 (@komygaby) March 11, 2023
The fans are clearly siding with Piastri on this discussion and questioning Alpine’s transparency rather than Piastri’s loyalty.
So forcing your junior drivers into either taking a contract with you all or you don’t race in F1 (non compete). Message to young driver don’t sign with Alpine. Look at where Red Bull drivers are right now. Alpine could learn something.
— GusBus (@gusthesportsfan) March 11, 2023
alpine still crying over this L
now fernando is smacking their assess at alpinr and theyre stuck with gasmid— Thales Vilela (@ThalesVilela) March 11, 2023
They lost Piastri because they gave him no hints that he was going to race for them anytime soon as they wanted to keep Alonso. Then when they got surprised by Alonso leaving Piastri had already made deals with another team
— Harry Blannin (@Spawn_In_Games) March 11, 2023
🤣🤣 I can only laugh that they thought when doing all the TV interviews last year, that they were purely relying on loyalty that he would stay. And were very confident about their chances….
— Wesley Kets (@wesleykets1) March 12, 2023
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I have zero sympathy for Alpine in this situation. For them to continue comment on the matter only makes the CEO and team look like cry babies. Oscar made a move for himself when the team was looking to lock up Alonso for another year. Thus leaving Oscar without a seat. Grow up.
— Aaron (@bmore_aaron) March 12, 2023
Just like in any job, a company is never loyal to the employees but expects loyalty from everyone else.
— Paddy mcguiness (@paddymcguiness1) March 12, 2023
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Alpine was confident of retaining both the talented drivers they had on their hands. However, in the end, the team ended up losing both drivers. An embarrassing situation for the French team, but according to fans, this had nothing to do with Piastri’s loyalty and more to do with the team’s greed. Do you agree?
