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The Oscar Piastri-McLaren-Alpine saga tends to be coming to a close. RacingNews365 has reported that the FIA's contract recognition board has validated Piastri's new contract with the Woking-based squad at the expense of his existing deal with Alpine. The report read that the Australian has signed a contract with McLaren that would see him partner Lando Norris and replace Daniel Ricciardo.
Alpine apparently had Piastri on a contract for the 2022 F1 season and had an option for the 2023 F1 season which wasn't exercised within 30 days of signing that contract.
The report read:
“RacingNews365.com has learned from sources in Australia that [Oscar] Piastri has signed a contract at McLaren that would see him partner Lando Norris and replace compatriot Riccardo at the Woking squad in 2023.”
“FIA’s contract recognition board, where all F1 contracts are checked for validity, is said to have validated Piastri’s new contract with McLaren at the expense of his existing deal with Alpine.”
“RacingNews365.com understands that Piastri has a contract with Alpine for 2022, but not for 2023. His 2022 deal is said to contain an option on Piastri's services for 2023, but that option was not exercised within the required 30 days of signing that contract.”
The report does raise questions about the way Alpine has mishandled the proceedings when it comes to driver contracts. Fernando Alonso signed a contract without informing the team and Alpine announced Oscar Piastri as the replacement without informing the driver, only to be rebuked publicly by Piastri for the same.
The team has lost two impressive talents within a week and questions will be raised on how the management has been handling everything.
Where Daniel Ricciardo fits in the entire Oscar Piastri/McLaren/Alpine saga
Another question mark would be the future of Daniel Ricciardo as the driver was supposed to have a contract with the Woking-based squad for next season. In our previous article on this saga, we had mentioned that unless Daniel Ricciardo moves out of the team on his own accord, McLaren would be forced to pay him millions to step aside for Oscar Piastri.
What remains unanswered in all of this is how the Woking-based squad is going to handle the situation with Daniel Ricciardo. What happens to his contract? Is he moving out of the team on his own accord? Is he getting the step aside money? Or is there a probable situation where Ricciardo has signed with Alpine as Fernando Alonso's replacement for the 2023 F1 season, giving Piastri a clear path to Woking?
There are still a lot of unanswered questions in this saga, but for now, we might be clearing up space for a blistering partnership at McLaren between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
