How Alpine is building the champion of the future by staying true to Alonso

Australian Oscar Piastri, a member of the Alpine Young Drivers’ Academy, is seen as one of the biggest talents of Formula One’s near future and a potential world champion, having won all the minor category titles from the start until last year in each of them .

He could be in one of Alpine’s two cockpits as early as this year – and with the French team having a contract with Esteban Ocon until the end of 2024, that cockpit could only belong to Fernando Alonso. However, the Spaniard prevented such a decision from Alpine for two very important reasons.

First and foremost, the two-time world champion does as well, if not better, in the years (2005-06) that he won his titles with the same team. Secondly, his very rich experience and excellent car analysis skills were very useful for the French team in this year’s major change in technical regulations.

Alonso has been beating Okon quite a bit this year and his ambition to give it his all for a third championship is pretty clear. With Alpine’s simultaneous need to put Piastri in a competitive position in 2023, the French team faces a serious dilemma.

Alonso, who will turn 41 next July, recently said he wants to stay in F1 for at least two or three more years. However, he was later asked about Oscar Piastri and asked about pressure from him.

“Obviously if I was 25, we wouldn’t be having this conversation, so it’s an age issue.”replied Fernando. “People try to find a way for new talent, but I think it has to do with everyone’s performance. And I think I did well last year. It’s a question of ability, not age. As I said earlier this year, I still feel competitive and fast and I’m enjoying it Formula 1.

So I imagine that I will run for another two or three years. When I’m with her alpine, It will be good. If I’m with another team, it will be good too. I will probably start these discussions in the summer.”, he added. But the truth is that it will be extremely difficult to find a more competitive cockpit than Alpine. His name has been heard for Aston Martin if Sebastian Vettel leaves but Silverstone’s team is in decline at the moment.

Lauren Rossi, CEO of Alpine, said: “For Fernando, it goes without saying that he will not set a limit for himself at the end of this year. It’s natural and as long as he continues to drive that well I would keep racing if I were him.

It’s still a bit early for us to place a guide anywhere in our group or other groups. We will continue to develop Oscar’s career through the program, nothing will change. It doesn’t matter if, but when Oscar will occur Formula 1. Then he should be as ready as possible. That’s the only thing that matters to me.”

If Alonso continues to perform as he did at 25, Alpine isn’t ruling out the possibility of putting Piastri in another team to take his next step and prepare for his sophomore climb to the highest level of riding at the Formula 1.

Commenting on the possibility, Rossi said: “If there is a solution that allows us to call him back, I can think about it. I do not reject this solution. You understand that I want to develop Oscar, I don’t want to let him sit on the bench forever. He must be ready when the day comes. And the day will come because he’s very talented, he’s absolutely worthy of one of the 20 places here. And I think he has the potential to be world champion in the future. I am absolutely convinced of that.

Until then, it is important to train as much as possible. (His lending) has always been a parameter for us. We knew last year that Fernando was paying off. And we would be very surprised if he lost his magical abilities in winter. So let’s be realistic. This is one of the scenarios we need to consider.

We discussed this with him and (Piastri manager) Mark Webber. It would be great to have Oscar as their future guide alpine For now we will climb to the top of the pedestal. For me, the ideal scenario would be to win victories and championships with us. We’re going to try to achieve that.”

At the moment there is no clear indication of a possible team that Alpine could put Oscar Piastri in next year. Parent company Renault doesn’t supply customer engines to any other team, but Rossi didn’t rule out that this would change over time. But even if it doesn’t change,” says Rossi.I wouldn’t have a problem working with a team that doesn’t have their own aggregates.” on the topic of piastri.