Fernando Alonso says he decided to leave Alpine for 2023 because he felt the Renault-owned team’s focus for the future was clearly on Oscar Piastri.
When the 41-year-old Spaniard announced his move to Aston Martin, Alpine quickly promoted Piastri, 21, for 2023 – before the Australian announced he would not be driving for the team next year. The latter has signed a contract with McLaren as confirmed by Otmar Szafnauer yesterday.
The case will be decided by the CRB on Monday, but Alpine, which expects to lose its driver, is seeking compensation of 5-10 million euros for its very expensive training.
Whatever the outcome this time around, it won’t matter to Alonso – whose contract with Aston Martin is set in stone. He said he started looking at other teams when Alpine seemed to be putting all its eggs in the Piastri basket early on in the season.
“The first discussions took place in Australia in March,” reveals Alonso at Spa. “Nothing happened. They were worried about Piastri, his place, Piastri’s future – Piastri, Piastri, Piastri, I only heard that. Basically it was him first, me second.”
“Then Sebastian(Vettel ended his career and everything changed.”
Alonso also clearly admits he was shocked by Alpine wondering how much longer a 41-year-old could remain fully competitive in Formula 1, only offering him a one-year deal plus an optional one.
“It seems quite strange to me that I am judged every year on what my passport says is my birthday. Other teams think differently and trust my abilities.”
“It was the right decision to go to Aston Martin because they seemed to really want me and appreciated the performance I had put in over the past two years. I haven’t experienced this for maybe a year and half.”