Oscar Piastri’s wheels were cut – Newspaper Kommersant No. 140 (7341) of 08/04/2022

A scandal arose in Formula 1, in the center of which was the young Australian driver Oscar Piastri. It was his Alpine team that officially introduced as a replacement for the famous Spaniard Fernando Alonso, who decided to switch to Aston Martin at the end of the season. However, Piastri himself, who is known to have negotiated with McLaren, denied this statement. But Alpine continues to insist that the pilot has “contractual obligations” to the “stable”. The dispute, which has a minimum of precedents, may have to be resolved in arbitration by the International Federation of Motor Sports (FIA).

The Oscar Piastri controversy erupted shortly after the Alpine team issued an official press release on their most pressing issue. It arose because of the decision of Fernando Alonso, who played for her famous Spaniard, announced on Monday, to move to Aston Martin at the end of the current season. As his successor, Alpine, now fourth in the Constructors’ Championship, the team standings of the current championship, introduced the 21-year-old Piastri.

This news surprised no one, seeming absolutely logical. Piastri, in fact, has passed all the steps necessary to be considered the main hope in motor racing. He consecutively won two “junior”, “transitional” championships – “Formula 3” in 2020 and “Formula 2” in 2021. At the same time, for some time now, the Australian has served as a reserve pilot for Alpine.

However, a few hours later, an entry appeared in Oscar Piastri’s account in which the team’s announcement was called “incorrect” and made “without the consent” of the athlete. Piastri clarified that he “did not sign a contract with Alpine for 2023” and “will not race for her” next season.

The words of Oscar Piastri were an unpleasant surprise for the management of the team, which, before Fernando Alonso agreed with Aston Martin, was going to send the young pilot for an “internship” at Williams. Alpine chief Otmar Schafnauer said this honestly. Moreover, he continued to insist that, from a legal point of view, the team did not allow any violations. Piastri does have “contractual obligations” with Alpine, extending to 2023 with the option of an extension for another season, Schaffnauer said, and urged the driver to “respect” them. True, Otmar Schafnauer, it turned out, was aware that Oscar Piastri and his manager Mark Webber, a well-known Formula driver in the past, “had their own options.” What options, or rather, what option Schaffnauer meant, is not a secret for anyone who closely follows what is happening in Formula 1. For quite some time now, various sources have been reporting close interest in Piastri from McLaren.

Commenting on the conflict, the BBC notes that this is a complex case with a minimum of precedents, and a way out can be found in two ways. The softest one is a monetary compensation from McLaren Alpine in the event that Piastri does have a contract with his current team, obliging him to stay in it in 2023. The second way is for the parties to apply to the special arbitration of the International Motor Sport Federation, which is responsible for contract disputes, CRB.

In the history of this body, there was only one really high-profile case when he was forced to deal with such an issue. In 2004 CRB was approached by the BAR team and British pilot Jenson Button, who played for it, who wanted to go to Williams and claimed that the contract with the current team allows him to make the transition. The arbitration then sided with BAR, believing that one of the contract options allows the team to keep the pilot. But such an outcome of the proceedings, as it turned out later, favorably affected Button’s career. It was in BAR, which changed its name to Brawn, that he won the Formula 1 championship in 2009.

Alexey Dospekhov