By Joe Murphy
Alpine have announced their highly-rated reserve driver, Oscar Piastri, will be the man to take a race seat in 2023. The Australian born 21-year-old has been brought up to replace Fernando Alonso, who earlier confirmed his switch to Aston Martin on a multi-year deal.
Sebastian Vettel had revealed last Thursday that he would be retiring from Formula 1 at the end of the 2022 season. This triggered a chain reaction that saw the Spaniard make the switch to the green team.
The move left a seat available at Alpine, and on Tuesday afternoon, they announced it would be filled by Piastri, who is currently the team’s reserve driver. He is also the current reigning F2 champion, having won the title in his first season.
Alpine themselves confirmed the news, hours after they learned of Fernando’s departure: “As part of his formative F1 journey, Oscar was first promoted to BWT Alpine F1 Team Reserve Driver at the start of the 2022 season and has since been undergoing, under the Team’s guidance and its full financial support, an intensive and comprehensive training programme of private tests in the race-winning A521, the 2021 Alpine F1 car, race support and simulator sessions to prepare him for the next big step into F1.
“Alpine now looks forward to seeing the next stage in his F1 career alongside Esteban Ocon.”
This move could help keep Daniel Ricciardo in his seat beyond 2024, with Piastri a previous target to potentially replace the man who races alongside Lando Norris.
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