Alpine still expects the youngest Australian to fill the seat vacated by Fernando Alonso, and believes he has a valid contract in that regard.
The team announced on Tuesday afternoon that Piastri would drive in 2023, but shortly afterwards the Australian took to social media to deny that was the case.
Piastri is understood to have agreed a deal to go to McLaren at a time when it appeared his only option to race in 2023 was if Alpine sold him to Williams, a deal he and manager Mark Webber did not want to follow.
The sudden availability of Alonso’s seat has complicated things for all parties.
Should Piastri win any upcoming legal dispute and end up going to McLaren, Alpine will have to look outside to replace him.
Szafnauer noted that following Monday’s announcement of Alonso’s move to Aston Martin, he had already “received a bunch of calls from other potential drivers.”
If Ricciardo is forced out of McLaren to make way for Piastri, as a multiple race winner, he will potentially be one of the most attractive options on the market, despite his recent patchy form for the Woking outfit.
The problem is that after being hired by the then Renault organization at a huge cost to lead the team into the future, Ricciardo decided at the start of his second season in 2020 to jump ship and join McLaren for 2021.
That decision did not go down well in the Renault camp, and although the team’s management has changed, with Cyril Abiteboul gone with Szafnauer and Laurent Rossi now in charge, it could still be a problem.
Indeed, Groupe Renault boss Luca de Meo is understood to have been particularly frustrated by Ricciardo’s departure.
Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
However, when asked about Ricciardo by Motorsport.com, Szafnauer likened the situation to Alonso’s ability to return to teams and insisted the priority was finding the right drivers to help the team with its plan to 100 runs to reach the top of the field. .
“I mean, if you look at Fernando, for example, he comes and goes, and I think that happens to the other drivers as well,” he said.
“And I don’t think that’s a problem at all. I think what we have to focus on is, as I say, the plans we have for the next few races in ’89-88.
“We have to make sure we supplement that plan with the best driver we can, and there are some options for us. And we put the best driver next to Esteban [Ocon]so that we can move forward towards what we have planned”.
Speaking ahead of Piastri’s statement on social media, Szafnauer also insisted the team could work with the youngster if he was eventually confirmed in the seat, despite the potential damage caused to the relationship by his bid to move to McLaren.
He compared the situation to that at BAR when Jenson Button looked set to go to Williams in 2005, but ultimately stayed with the Brackley team after a legal battle.
“I’ve been around long enough that I’ve seen this kind of thing happen and happen,” he said.
“When Jenson signed with Williams and ended up at British American Racing Honda, if you remember those days, there was absolutely no problem. I mean, I know Oscar is different from Jenson. Hopefully, anyway, we don’t have to follow this path.
“But your assumption was, oh, a driver wants to go somewhere else. So hopefully that’s not the case. But I’ve seen a driver sign incorrectly with another team, so he had to drive for the team with which he initially signed.
“And it was absolutely no problem. Jenson at the time did a stellar job at BAR and never ended up at Williams.
Read also:
Podium: second place Juan Pablo Montoya, McLaren; Race winner Fernando Alonso, Renault and third placed Jenson Button, BAR
Photo by: Sutton Images