The uglies from Alpine to Alonso led the march on Aston Martin

I will say. Because now is what I experienced a few months ago in the hospitality of Alpine. Alonso, Piastri, Szafnauer and Laurent Rossithe heroes of this story.

That’s him Spanish F1 GP. Rumors have begun to surface about Alonso’s future. He insisted that he would not negotiate until the summer. Some journalists from the Spanish press were invited to a round table, first to Stephen Ocon and then with Otmar Szafnauer, Team leader. Ocon wonders about Alonso. Otmar too, but he did not give a definitive explanation of the future of the Spaniard.

Faced with such a situation, I asked: “If he said that they need Fernando Alonso’s fire and hunger and his winning mentality, why don’t you present him with a renewal contract now?”

“It’s because the timing of all the teams in F1 traditionally means that these things are done a little bit. Fernando Alonso get the points you deserve. We are focused on that and everything will come in time.”

The story still doesn’t add up. Why wait when you have something so clear? “Who has to convince who?” I will ask.

“It’s something that both parties have to agree on, and it’s usually dealt with next season. Not only us, but all the teams deal with these things later,” he told me. They continued for a long time.

Alpine is clearly thinking of a young man trained in his academy, in which he has invested a lot of money: Oscar Piastri21, who has endured this year without driving but has threatened to quit if his chance doesn’t come.

If they find a loan for Piastri to gain F1 experience, Alonso will continue at Alpine. If not, it looks like the job will go to Piastri. The reality of the dilemma between a two-time champion with so much experience and at the highest level and a driver who has yet to make his F1 debut seems very strange. very strange An insult to a driver like Alonso.

But the best came later. Five Spanish journalists were invited to stay for lunch in hospitality, a gesture of kindness as this was the home GP, in Barcelona.

The surprise came when a special person headed the table: Oscar Piastri. The boy sat with us so we could get to know him better. It gradually opened up as we took songs from it. It was inevitable that we would somehow handle his situation. He made it clear to us that he will go up to F1 yes or yes in 2023. That he will not be like this for another year, in hospitality, without driving.

The boy who could sit in Alonso’s seat, dines with the Spanish press. He knows that we want Alonso to continue, and he understands it, even if it is against him. And he did not hide in such a situation. Surreal.

The icing arrived on Saturday afternoon. After qualifying I went up to the first floor of Alpine hospitality. The boss, the CEO, was waiting for me in his office. laurent rossi. He told me many things:

– That the war situation and the microchip crisis did not affect his F1 plan and his budget was approved.

– That Alonso has been key to increasing road car sales and is essential to the team’s growth.

And so? I asked him if it was difficult because they had to choose between Piastri and Alonso.

“Yes, but this is a situation that many teams want, to be honest. But I still have a lot of time to solve it, because everyone knows that contracts are made in September because there is always a cyclical pattern in the middle of the year . Obviously, we’re talking to two drivers, we’re looking at the options, to see if we continue with one, continue with the other, or see if we put one in another team and look at other options. It’s normal hesitate between a young driver and someone like Alonso. Surreal.

And I asked him: “Do you have a plan to convince Alonso? Or should Alonso convince you?”

“I think it’s a two-way street, we have to convince each other (laughs). He’s an excellent driver, obviously, and when we have to discuss his contract, we’ll try to convince him. two directions”.

Nope. Alonso doesn’t need to convince anyone. Below the level that shows. You also can’t doubt or doubt whether to renew it or upgrade your reserve driver.

It was added that the team did not raise their voice to stop the fights with Ocon nor did they give the captain’s armband to the public. And he did not offer Fernando a multi-year contract because of his age. “We offer him a contract for one year plus another. And we negotiated with Fernando saying: ‘Look, if next year at this point you are performing at the same level, of course, we will renew you,’ and he could have gone. further,” he said. Otmar to the journalist after the announcement of the signing of Aston Martinn.

You can’t test a driver of Alonso’s stature year after year to see if he’s still up to par. Another ugly one, just after Ocon came back to aggressively defend himself against Fernando without the team stopping him. Alonso said “10 minutes” were needed to reach an agreement. At the age of 11 you already know when “one of the parties” is not at work. At Alpine they don’t want to offer him the contract he deserves for everything he continues to show on the track and in the factory. In Aston Martin, yes. Now it will be necessary to see if the green team can improve with Alonso pulling the car.

And on top of that, Alpine was also left without Piastri, who publicly disparaged the team for announcing his arrival in 2023 without consulting him. The Australian also said he would not drive the Alpine safely. That said, surreal.