Otmar Szafnauer stands by his harsh words about Oscar Piastri. The former Alpine team boss openly questioned the young driver’s integrity after he caused a stir by turning his back on the team and opting for McLaren. “He cost us millions.”
After a year on the sidelines in 2022, Alpine announced that Oscar Piastri would drive for the team in 2023. Not long after, the Australian contradicted this announcement. The Formula 1 world was in turmoil. The saga culminated in a legal battle between Piastri’s camp (led by manager Mark Webber) and Alpine. In the end, Piastri was vindicated and signed a contract with McLaren.
The former team boss was not pleased with Piastri’s behavior. The Enstone-based team had heavily invested in the Alpine junior: as part of the TPC program (Testing of Previous Cars), he extensively drove a two-year-old Formula 1 car. “I don’t regret it,” Szafnauer said in The Team Principal Podcast by The Race, about his previous statements towards his former protégé. “We let Oscar drive more than 5000 kilometers in a two-year-old car. That cost us millions.”
Unnecessary Enrichment
Szafnauer found it unfair that Piastri continued testing at a time when McLaren was already courting his services. “If you get such an opportunity and think you can seize it, that’s okay,” he said. “But this is a form of unnecessary enrichment: you know the contract is not correctly signed, but the other party sticks to the agreements while you have no intention of doing so. What you should actually say is: ‘You know what, keep your test days. I’m not going to do this. I’m choosing a different path.'”
