Oscar Piastri has denied Alpine‘s official statement that he will be part of their driver line-up for the 2023 Formula 1 season.
The French team announced on Tuesday evening that the Australian racer would be taking the place of Spanish driver Fernando Alonso after he revealed he will be racing for Aston Martin next season instead.
Piastri is part of the Alpine driver academy and won the Formula 2 series last season. He has been the F1 team’s reserve driver this season.
There have been many reports that Piastri is currently in talks with McLaren to presumably replace Daniel Ricciardo next season and his latest statement suggests that he doesn’t have the Alpine seat on his radar.
“I understand that, without my consent, Alpine F1 put out a press release late this afternoon that I will be driving for them next year,” Piastri said via social media.
“This is wrong and I have not signed a contract with Alpine for 2023. I will not be driving for Alpine next year.”
Alpine said about Piastri in their statement that announced him as their new driver to partner Esteban Ocon: “In line with the commitments made by the team to the young Australian, Oscar will be promoted to full driver and will take Fernando Alonso‘s seat from next year.
“Oscar has been a valued member of the Alpine family for the past four years. The Melbourne native joined the Alpine Academy following his Formula Renault Eurocup win in 2019.
“With the support and guidance of the Academy, Oscar went on to win the Formula 3 Championship in 2020, before achieving an unprecedented back-to-back title by winning Formula 2 in 2021.”
