Fernando Alonso will turn 41 in 2022 in what will be his 19th season in Formula 1 and, although Alpine trusts the Asturian to return to the top, Oscar Piastri arrives stomping and in a hurry to make his F1 debut.
The age in a driver in Formula 1 is synonymous with experience… although it also fuels a silly season that year after year feeds back on any real or fictional situation that comes along the way.
That is why most of the teams present at the ‘Great Circus’ have a program for young drivers to encourage and to turn to once a member of their duo decides to change scenery or does not give the expected results.
“In 2021 the most important thing was to secure Oscar Piastri”
One of these quarries, probably the best known today, is that of Red Bull. Reigning world champion Max Verstappen has been a product of this split ever since Helmut Marko turned his attention to the young Dutchman when the #33 had him made to be a mainstay of the Mercedes programme. Taking the risk before the Germans and almost instantly offering him the chance to get into an F1 tipped the balance in his favor, and Verstappen changed gears.
Something similar happens in Alpine: with the Alonso-Ocon couple settled, Oscar Piastri, Australian Formula 2 champion driver belonging to the French program, has seen his climb from the lower categories stop dead, a challenge that Laurent Rossi must deal with.
present problem
With a victory for Ocon and a podium for Alonso, the CEO of Alpine Cars confesses that between last year and this 2022 he has dodged a bullet that has bought him time.
“Last year I had even more problems”, revealed Rossi, referring to the departure of Guanyu Zhou. “For me, the most important thing was to secure Oscar, and that’s why we let Zhou go to Alfa Romeo. That’s how I solved the problem a bit last year, but I still have it, obviously, although it’s a rich man’s problemlike I always say”.
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“I have a great champion in my car, or two even, and I also have a future champion. We just have to figure out what our options are. The silly season hasn’t started yet, we still have some time; we are working hard on that, finding situations that suit our interests and logically yours, over time», he asserted.
Why Alonzo?
“Because it’s so good, that’s all”. That’s how emphatically the French leader responded to this question before answering the same question with Ocon and Piastri as protagonists. “That’s the paradox,” he continued with a laugh.
“If I had reserve pilot shit, you’d ask me ‘why do you have a fucking reserve pilot?’ I have a fantastic third driver, you should commend me for having such a great roster of drivers. We keep Esteban because it is a choice that I made in the long term, “he added.
«Last year everyone was saying to me ‘oh, you have signed a three-year contract, why? why? why?’. Well, everyone is doing it, so it seems only fair to build something long term. With Fernando you can’t really bet long termbecause he himself does not know if in 3 years he will be fed up with all this or if his performance will decline, so it is something from year to year, “he explained.
experience vs. youth
Finally, Rossi got ‘wet’ when talking about the metamorphosis that Alpine will undergo once Piastri joins the team as an official driver. “It’s all going to be a matter of properly manage the transitionwhich I hope we do one day, “he snapped.
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“I hope Oscar wins races and becomes world champion with us at some point. We really look forward to it, and that’s why we’re working on maximizing Oscar’s opportunities to learn this year. That he pilots, potentially this year or next, even if it’s on another computer», revealed as a possibility already for even 2023.
“I view him very favorably, and hopefully bringing him back to the team, so we built it around him. It’s basically like Fernando giving Esteban a bit of his own experience, even though Esteban was already pretty experienced. Sometime, Esteban will do the same with Oscar. Although they are very strong and talented drivers, help is always good,” Rossi concluded.
Source: RacingNews365