Otmar Szafnauer Blames Alpine for Piastri Saga

Otmar Szafnauer, former team principal of Alpine, has distanced himself from the contract debacle involving Oscar Piastri, who ultimately signed with McLaren for the 2023 season. Szafnauer revealed that a contract option for Piastri was never executed correctly by Alpine, despite having a two-week window to do so in November 2021. He criticized the communications team for using his image in a press release regarding Piastri's signing, suggesting it was a tactic to deflect blame from others within the organization. Szafnauer emphasized that he arrived at Alpine months after the contract issues arose and had no say in the matter. The fallout from this situation has highlighted significant incompetence within Alpine's management, leading to their eventual loss in the Contract Recognition Board ruling. In the wake of this controversy, Alpine was forced to recruit Pierre Gasly to fill their vacancy.