It soon emerged that the reigning F2 champion had already agreed to join McLaren, because at the time, he felt there was no seat available at Alpine for the foreseeable future.
With both teams laying claim to him, the Contract Recognition Board was required – it is believed at the request of Alpine – and on Friday, they revealed it was McLaren who had the valid contract with Piastri, and it was subsequently announced he would drive for them.
“I’m glad that I finally got announced as a McLaren driver for next year and we are now looking forward to the future ahead,” Piastri told me in his first interview since the news.
“I’m still reserve with Alpine and I’m happy to carry out those duties still, but it’s a discussion that we need to have between myself and the team. We’ll see how that looks and then obviously super excited to be joining the grid with McLaren next season.”
Piastri joined the Alpine Academy in 2020 after winning the Formula Renault Eurocup title the previous year. That season, he won the F3 title at the first attempt and followed in the footsteps of George Russell and Charles Leclerc by winning the F2 title the next year. It was an incredible rise.
Over the last couple of years, Piastri has completed a strong testing programme in old F1 machinery, while also embedding himself in the team as reserve driver to prepare himself for when the opportunity arose to make the final step into a race seat.
However, it is believed that while Alpine contributed to his pathway through F2 and F3, plus the running in F1 machinery, a big chunk of the financial support he has needed for successful campaigns in F3 and F2 came from family and sponsors.
“I’ve really enjoyed my time with Alpine,” he said. “I joined the Academy off the back of winning the Formula Renault championship in 2019 as part of the prize for winning the championship, and
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enjoyed two incredibly successful years as part of the Academy with two further championships so I have nothing but respect for all the team at Enstone.
“It was a good testing programme that we came up with with Alpine this year, in place of not having a seat for this year. It’s put me in good stead and I’m very thankful for Alpine for the
testing we have done this year, but McLaren is a different team, a different car and the 2022 cars in general are quite different beasts so we’ll see how much of that carries over.
“I will look back on my time at Enstone with great memories but I’m now focusing on my future and starting my F1 career.”
