The F1 world has rarely seen such confusion in the driver line-up as this. The Oscar Piastri, Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel saga has shaken the entire F1 world as Alpine, McLaren, and Aston Martin all have come to play. The controversy surrounding this hasn’t died down as there are new updates for Piastri.
Alpine is all set to sue the Australian driver if he decides to opt for McLaren. Piastri has been the reserve driver for Alpine for two years and the French team wants compensation for the money they spent on him during his days at the team. This made the F1 fans show their reactions to Twitter.
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Sebastian Vettel’s retirement next year would leave Aston Martin with a vacant seat. This seat is to be filled by Fernando Alonso, thus leaving space for Piastri in Alpine. However, Daniel Ricciardo’s departure from McLaren has become a bone of contention for Alpine.
Fans bring in Alpine F1 and Otmar Szafnauer to the scene
According to a recently published report by Auto Motor Und Sport, Alpine is ready to sue the Melbourne-born driver for a sum of $5 to $10 million if he’s allowed to shift to McLaren. The team will approach the Contract Recognition Board (CRB) in Geneva after the Belgian Grand Prix.
READ MORE: McLaren Protege Exposes Zak Brown Behind ‘Laughable’ Oscar Piastri-Alpine F1 Commotion
Once the news surfaced on the internet, fans come up with some brilliant responses.
HELP pic.twitter.com/Eh5fz6YKGV
— ece ③ (@ricciardopics) August 26, 2022
— tami. (@Vetteleclerc) August 26, 2022
Interesting 👀 pic.twitter.com/AAj8BpFWGC
— F1 Reaction Pictures (@FormulaReaction) August 26, 2022
A recent photo of Otmar Szafnauer is also doing the rounds on the internet. The Alpine boss is seen coming out of McLaren’s office.
Otmar leaving the motorhome of McLaren pic.twitter.com/C9Z0ffMOGg
— Fernando Alonso updates (@startonpole) August 26, 2022
— Noon ^⁰⁵ ⁴⁴🦦 (@FormulaSewis) August 26, 2022
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oscar piastri seeing mclaren’s announcement pic.twitter.com/aKd1HmLp7m
— Maude (@schumihoney) August 24, 2022
Szafnauer, who’s now the boss of Alpine, has further stated that the CRB usually takes the decision quickly. Back in 2005 when a similar situation occurred between BAR and Williams regarding Jenson Button, the governing body has taken just two days.
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Back then, Szafnauer was the race engineer for BAR’s engine partner Honda. Since then, the sport has come so far. As the Belgian Grand Prix is currently underway, it’ll be interesting to see how things turn out once it is finally over.