Alpine threatened Piastri that he would go to court

Alpine could seek millions in compensation at London’s High Court if Australian driver Oscar Piastri refuses to race for them next season, team principal Otmar Szafnauer warned on Monday.

Alpine, owned by Renault, announced Piastri on August 2 as a replacement for two-time world champion Fernando Alonso in their 2023 lineup, but a few hours later through his social networks the 21-year-old driver, who this year acts as the third pilot , removed it.

“Alpine issued a press release without my consent saying that I will race with them next season. That is not true. I have not signed a contract with Alpine for 2023 and I will not drive for them next season,” Matara replied Piastre. in their social networks.

It is assumed that Piastri will have a pre-contract with McLaren, a team that is fighting Alpine for fourth place in the championship, although he needs to ‘set his house in order’ first as he has a commitment made for 2023 with fellow Australian Daniel Ricciardo . There has been speculation about the possibility of the two teams finally coming to terms which could mean Ricciardo’s return.

But Alpine is now in the process of preparing for a legal battle when the August sports break ends. “Going to the High Court is more than 90% sure that’s what we’re going to do,” Szafnauer said.

They have contacted the Formula 1 Contract Recognition Board (CRB). “If the CRB says ‘your license is only valid for Alpine’, and then Piastri says ‘that’s great, but I’ll never drive for them, I’ll just sit for a year,’ then is that you have to go to the High Court to get compensation,” Szafnauer said.

Alpine wants to make good on everything it invested in Piastri’s preparation for Formula One, with independent testing and thousands of miles on the car last year, including one at Austin’s Circuit of the Americas.

“We haven’t sat down with accountants to find out everything we’ve spent. We’ll need to if we go to the Supreme Court,” Szafnauer said.

The Romanian-American revealed that Piastri signed a terms and conditions agreement with Alpine in November last year that set the path for a career debut in 2023 and included the possibility of being loaned to another team within one year.

Piastri was apparently set for a year at Williams, the team at the bottom of the standings, before Fernando Alonso, who seemed close to a contract extension at Alpine, swerved and signed a two-year contract in Budapest. year and the option of a third with Aston Martin and thus removed the hornet’s nest of ‘mercato’ in F1.

Szafnauer is sympathetic in respecting Alonso, acknowledging that money and the length of the contract are key factors for the 41-year-old Spaniard, but he expects more loyalty from Piastri.