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Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer recently confirmed that while 2021 F2 world champion Oscar Piastri will not make his free practice debut at the upcoming British GP, it will not be long before he hits the road in an F1 Alpine. Reports suggest that the French GP will witness Piastri's FP1 debut.
As reported by Motorsport, when asked about Piastri, Szafnauer said:
“We can tell you it won’t be Silverstone. But it’s not far off. The answer is we plan to put him in the car. It won’t be that far off, but we haven’t announced it yet.”
He further said:
“Oscar’s [Piastri] a bright young talent coming through, as we all know. And he’s been testing last year’s car. At more than just Silverstone. He’s done a few others and will do some more in the future. And he’s doing very well. We’re contracted with Oscar and we have some options on him. So, there’s no real need to hurry that, so we’ll take our time and at the right moment, within the silly season, we’ll have a look around and make those types of decisions.”
Oscar Piastri is a reserve driver for Alpine and has previously driven the A521 at several tracks as a part of his role within the team. However, speculation regarding a potential seat at Williams for the 2023 season has taken over the paddock.
Williams unlikely to carry out a mid-season driver switch with Oscar Piastri
Oscar Piastri is rumored to replace Nicholas Latifi and partner Alex Albon at Williams next season. Williams team boss Jost Capito confirmed that while he is confident about the 21-year-old's place in the sport, the team is not looking to change their line-up any time this season.
In a press conference ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix, Capito said:
“Oscar for sure is ready to go into F1. I think he’s one on the list for sure. We have got contracts for this year. We stick to our drivers and we are convinced Nicky will find the confidence in the car through the season and his results will be better.”
Nicholas Latifi has been significantly outperformed by both teammates he has had in F1 so far. Only time will tell whether he will be able to turn things around and keep his drive in F1.
