Australian young gun Oscar Piastri says he’s made it clear to Alpine that he expects to be on the Formula 1 grid for the 2023 season, and a detail from the team’s car launch this week suggests it’s very much on the cards.
Piastri, who has won the Formula 3 and Formula 2 titles in consecutive years, won’t race in 2022, instead spending the year as Alpine’s reserve driver.
He’s already tested for the team at the Paul Ricard circuit in France earlier this week, as part of what Alpine says will be an “extensive” program to have him ready for a race seat.
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The team has two grand prix winners on its books at the moment, with Esteban Ocon contracted until the end of next season, while former world champion Fernando Alonso is entering the second and final year of his deal.
Alonso will turn 41 in July, but impressed in his comeback season in 2021.
Piastri, who turns 21 the week of the Australian Grand Prix, was very much front and centre, along with Ocon and Alonso, at Alpine’s launch of the 2022 car this week.
That didn’t go unnoticed amongst keen observers of the sport, given it’s unusual for the third driver to be given such prominence.
It’s a sign that Alpine is doing everything possible to keep the Aussie prodigy happy.
Speaking to Wide World of Sports during his recent trip back to Australia, Piastri said while one year away from racing is manageable, he won’t accept a second season without a drive.
“It’s in Alpine’s hands, but we’re both very clear with each other that we want to make this just one year on the sidelines as the reserve driver,” he said.
https://twitter.com/AlpineF1Team/status/1495816865368748038?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
“I’ve certainly made it very clear that I want to be on the grid in 2023. So it’s up to Alpine how they manage that.
“I’ve done what I can on the track to prove myself. So it’s very much up to up to them to to work that out.”
Piastri will drive in at least two free practice sessions this season, following the introduction of a rule designed to give rookie drivers time behind the wheel.
And with COVID-19 still a problem around the world, a debut isn’t out of the question if either Ocon or Alonso is forced to miss a race.
Regardless of whether or not that eventuates in 2022, Piastri concedes the fact he doesn’t have a regular drive at the age of 20 isn’t the end of the world.
“Exactly. I think, you know, obviously, I would have loved to have gone straight to F1 but you’re correct I’ve still got time on my side,” he explained.
“Obviously the F1 drivers are getting younger and younger now but yeah, I think I’ve still got plenty of good years ahead of me and when when my time comes I’ll be more than ready.
“Drivers like Lando Norris, George Russell, Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc all have come basically straight out of junior categories and been competitive straight away, and at such a young age, that only bodes well for me and, and paints all of us young drivers in a good light.
“They’re all proving what they can do. That’s good for me.”
The Melburnian says he expects his 2023 plans to be finalised during the European summer, a time when the F1 ‘Silly Season’ is usually in full swing.
Although he won’t be in a race car this season, he’s not concerned that he’ll be shuffled aside if the next young star emerges in F2 in his absence.
“I feel like my record speaks enough for itself,” he noted, pointing to his unprecedented run in recent years – Formula Renault Eurocup champion in 2019, the Formula 3 championship in 2020 and the Formula 2 title last year.
“I’ve got a lot of opportunities this year to try and further develop myself, not in racing terms, but getting that edge that I guess a lot of the guys racing F2 won’t have and getting the experience of being in the F1 paddock.
“I’ll be more than ready in 2023.”
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