Formula 2 champion Oscar Piastri races for McLaren in Formula 1 in 2023
One of the dumbest TV series silly season has come to an end. Oscar Piastris, the reigning Formula 2 champion and former Alpine reserve driver, has moved to the McLaren Formula 1 team recognized and approved by the Contract Accreditation Council. He will team up with Lando Norris for the 2023 season.
In case you missed it, Piastri was in on a bunch of contract dramas last month. After Fernando Alonso announced his departure from the Alpine Formula One team, Alpine announced that Piastri would take his place in 2023. However, Piastri denied that he had ever signed a contract.
Instead, Piastri said he would move to McLaren.
As you can imagine, this has caused quite a bit of confusion in the F1 circuit and the matter has been brought before Formula 1’s Contract Accreditation Council to determine which contract is believed to be Piastri’s. valid.
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Today, in a unanimous decisionCRB has recognized the McLaren contract as the only valid contract that Piastri has signed for 2022.
“I am extremely excited to make my F1 debut with such a prestigious team as McLaren and I am very grateful for the opportunity presented to me,” Piastri said at the time of the announcement. “The club has a long tradition of giving opportunities to young talent and I look forward to working hard with Lando to push the team forward into the grid. I am focusing on preparing for my F1 debut in 2023 and starting my F1 career on the papaya tree.”
While I understand the motivation for the driver to recognize your contract, this is probably the best outcome for both Alpine and Piastri. If Piastri is forced into the Alpine race seat after publicly expressing his displeasure with the team, I can’t say I expect things to go well for him. You will not perform at your peak if you actively do Not wanted to be somewhere – and the group could have reciprocated in kind.
This helps clear up a silly season and opens the door for teams to start filling in the rest of the F1 grid in 2023.