Rival F1 team cops unprovoked swipe over 'incompetent' Oscar Piastri move

Yahoo

30-04-2025

McLaren boss Zak Brown has taken a swipe at Alpine for letting Oscar Piastri leave the team with the Aussie leading the drivers championship after five races in the F1. Piastri has overshadowed his teammate Lando Norris to start the 2025 F1 season having won in China, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia to lead the drivers championship on 99 points.
Brown has allowed Piastri and Norris to race as competitors this year, despite the perception Norris was the No.1 driver in the team. Although Piastri has emerged as a potential world champ with McLaren taking an early led in the constructors race.
And basking in their early success, Brown has taken a dig at rival's Alpine for letting Piastri slip through their fingers. Piastri was part of the development team at the French-owned outfit and the F2 champ was made to bide his time.
When Alpine's Fernando Alonso stunned the F1 world and announced he had signed with Aston Martin, Piastri was announced as the replacement driver. However, the Aussie infamously took to social media and denied the move and it was later announced he had made the move to McLaren to replace Aussie Daniel Ricciardo.
Alpine's apparent indecision over the skilled driver appeared to cost them and Brown has reminded them of their miss. Speaking on The Race podcast, Brown took a dig at former Alpine boss Otmar Szafnauer after the team fumbled the Piastri deal.
'Lando [Norris], we brought up through the ranks; Oscar we identified as the next Lando,' Brown said on the podcast. 'They [Alpine] kind of dropped the ball there. Thank you, Otmar! We were able to bring Oscar on board, and he's done a fantastic job. We have two unbelievably competitive drivers.'
Alpine and McLaren clearly do not see eye-to-eye after Piastri's high-profile move and Brown's comment won't smooth over any lingering tension. Piastri's exit from Alpine came after his contract situation was sorted out by the FIA Contract Recognition Board.
Alpine believed Piastri was under contract, but it was deemed McLaren were free to sign the star leading to criticism. Szafnauer has since blasted Alpine for the 'incompetent' fail on their behalf and said he wasn't responsible for the drama.
'There was a contract after he finished his F2 career where Alpine had an option on Oscar Piastri as a Formula 1 driver for Alpine, and that contract was never executed,' Szafnauer revealed on the High Performance podcast.
'In November, there was a two-week time window where it could have been done, and it wasn't. Now my point is, come the CRB [Contract Recognition Board], where Alpine lost because the filings were incorrectly done, we put out a press release, and the press release has my image on it.
'So number one, nothing to do with me. I wasn't even there. But number two, the communications department that didn't report to me thought it was a good idea to deflect the incompetency of those that were Alpine at the time by putting my picture on the release."
Regardless of how he landed at McLaren, Piastri has now earned a contact extension after helping send the team to the top of the drivers constructors. Piastri will also look to extend his lead at the top of the drivers championship this weekend in Miami. While Piastri has historically struggled in the Miami GP, McLaren are flying and are favoured to take advantage of the conditions.