News that former Formula 1 driver Daniil Kyvat is considering a switch to NASCAR has provided a big clue to the future plans of rising Australian star Oscar Piastri.
Kvyat, whose F1 experience includes a stint as Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull teammate, is currently the reserve driver at Alpine.
Piastri, who won the F3 title last year and currently leads the F2 championship, is a member of the Alpine Academy, and has been linked to the reserve driver role at Alpine for 2022.
READ MORE: Nadal to play in Australian Open, putting pressure on Djokovic
READ MORE: Scottie Pippen unloads on ‘condescending’ Michael Jordan
READ MORE: Sportsbet loses $5 million to astonishing Melbourne Cup decision
There’s just one seat left on the F1 grid for next season, with Alfa Romeo, and Piastri recently told Wide World of Sports that he doesn’t expect to get that position. The 20-year-old from Melbourne instead revealed that the “logical step” would be for him to secure the third driver role at Alpine, and target an F1 debut in 2023, when Fernando Alonso’s contract has expired.
Kyvat posted to social media on the weekend from the NASCAR race at Martinsville Speedway, noting that it was “really cool” and “maybe one day I want to race here.”
The Russian, who has also been linked to a possible move to Formula E, will have to find somewhere else to ply his trade in 2022, if, as is widely expected, he loses his Alpine spot to the young Australian.
Piastri’s manager, nine-time grand prix winner Mark Webber, confirmed as much to Wide World of Sports earlier this year, when he said that Alpine was pulling out all the stops to keep the young Australian.
“Alpine know that Oscar should really be the only one,” Webber said.
“They don’t want to be losing him, they’re working hard to keep him and that’s a tremendous situation for Oscar to be in, because he’s doing all his talking on the track.”
“They know that he’s their main man. We’ve just got to work out a solution with Alpine for the future, I’m confident it will be OK.”
Piastri’s likely role at Alpine would include running at a number of Friday free-practice sessions, with F1 introducing a new rule for 2022 requiring teams to run a rookie driver during the season.
He’s also expected to appear for Alpine at the young driver test in Abu Dhabi in December.
For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!