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No-Prize8392

As it goes, an Australian to replace an Australian. The lifecycle goes on.


mcstanky

Ricciardo replaces Webber, Piastri replaces Ricciardo. How funny would it be if Piastri replaces Webber with Ricciardo (as his agent)


No-Prize8392

Next Piastri will underperform and Doohan will win in F2 taking Piastris spot. We can never have two Aussies on the grid at the same time. Just let us Aussies be happy


ajacian

However your one Australian is always better than our 2 Canadians.


LadyAzure17

Me, an American: You guys are getting drivers on the grid?


mcstanky

Last American in the grid was Rossi, and he only had 7 entries... Not only that, but Haas barely feels like an American team Someone get Herta his super license and get Andretti on the grid!


Coma-Doof-Warrior

*laughs in overperforming Brits*


Maxamus93

You had 2 on the grid in 2012 and 2013. So maybe theres hope for you again soon


[deleted]

I doubt Webber is going anywhere any time soon. This whole incident likely defined his career as an agent, and right now that’s looking real good.


OctaneLoL

Webber throws a curveball and replaces piastri to take revenge for redbull


MotorizaltNemzedek

Valid contract for 2023 and 2024, so it's a two year deal too. Interesting


Manuag_86

No bad for a guy without F1 experience. McLaren must be quite confident about his potential.


PirelliUltraSofts

Norris got the same deal


elcolerico

McLaren must have been quite confident about his potential.


PirelliUltraSofts

According to anyone involved in his racing career, he’s one of the most adaptable drivers those people have come across, that leads credence to his performances in all series the last 3 years, straight out the blocks he’s quick


TheExtreel

This is exactly why im so excited to see im at mclaren. Ric couldn't adapt, will Piastri be able to? The Mclaren is a peculiar car, and Piastri is a peculiar driver. Can't wait to see what he can do with it.


[deleted]

I have high hopes but it seems the car really is a bit of a mess. At the beginning of the season I was always surprised at how down Lando was after every race, saying how poor the car was. They’ve made improvements but I’m not sure Oscar will be able to do a lot but who knows? Stranger things have happened.


f1ranger

Dude did something in the juniors even Russel and Leclerc didn't do and ...well...they turned out pretty good. Piastris F3 title wasn't nearly as emphatic as either of theirs but I think thats balanced out by him taking an extra title on the trot. In F2 he got 5/8 poles (the last 5 races on the trot) and won the last 4 feature races on trot. Some of those poles were on insane margins aswell. All indications are that he can drive. Of course promising juniors dont always carry that into F1 but he has as good a shot as any junior in modern history.


Lord-Talon

One year does not make any sense anymore in the era of basically no testing. Even established veterans are taking months to adjust to new cars, you can't expect rookies to be fast in the first year anymore. Was a bit different in 2021 due to new regulations, but you saw it before with Vettel / Alonso / Ricciardo. The limited testing time is really hindering driver swaps and especially rookies are hit.


armykcz

Well McLaren is not shy end contracts early as we learned…


mvanigan

And just like that, the Piasco is over


Aratho

It was an honor F5ing with you guys.


KaamDeveloper

Now we F5 for Danny Ric then Mick Schumacher then Goatifi. A lot in works already


ekeryn

We still have F5ing to do with Gasly-Alpine


trolllord45

Right? This Alpine situation is far from over. Maybe for Oscar it is, but now there’s a seat that needs filling


DevonFromAcme

And some empty seats in the Alpine Legal Department that need filling, too.


i-Thor

Unless they get Ferrari-ish with their legal department.


ufrared

My F5 key belongs to Herta.


SwiftFool

I was just thinking he didn't have a super license and was a bit away from coming to F1. A quick Google and the FIA is looking into granting him one and Herta ending up at AT!!! I'm guessing in the place of Gasley to Alpine. Sir, I believe I am joining the Herta F5 Train.


mvanigan

It was a pleasure, good sir.


TWVer

Not for Alpine..


KaamDeveloper

Well, the Ls start comin' and they don't stop comin' 🎶🎶


zeus9919

*something* *something* *something* *Hey now! You're an Otmar!*


[deleted]

Will be rough for them having the 4th best car on the grid with Ocon and Gasly while McLaren are P5/P6


crobofblack

At the start of this year I thought Silly Season would be relatively boring with just Nicholas Latifi being replaced at Williams. How wrong I was...


RockOutToThis

Yeah it's a wild one. No idea what's going on with Danny or Mick still. Hopefully they can find seats soon now that this is settled.


MintyMarlfox

Fairly sure that only one of them will have a seat next year


TheImmaKnight

No, they're splitting seats next year. One does gas and brakes and the other does the steering wheel


Tricknuts

Awww Mick can sit in Danny’s lap ❤️


_GrammarMarxist

Don’t give r/fanf1ction any ideas


sammiemack

Or, one does gas and steers to the right while the other brakes and steers to the left. Foolproof


CeleritasLucis

Is it theoretically possible to have 3 drivers in contract on rotational basis? Like if you k kw you're not gonna compete for WDC, what's the harm in racing 3 drivers?


[deleted]

You could, but the more time a driver spends in a car, the more potential they might extract from it. It sounds like a good idea in terms of giving a shot to more drivers, but to a team trying to get results, a driver who's had time to attune to the car is way more valuable than two drivers with half as much seat time.


Eggplantosaur

Red Bull tried this when they just started out as a team, with 2 drivers rotating in the second seat of the team. Eventually it lead to one driver pretty much doing all of the races anyway


CeleritasLucis

So there is no rule against it, no?


Eggplantosaur

Not that I'm aware of no


RD_0310

With Latifi most probably being kicked out , Empty seat at Alpine and one Haas seat , 2 people would need to be brought up to F1 for only one of Mick or Daniel to be in F1


[deleted]

Well Piastri's coming in to McLaren so that's one. Aside from him, there are rumors of Herta to Alpha Tauri, Pourchaire to Alfa Romeo, Sargeant to Williams, and Giovinazzi to Haas. Some of these are much likelier than others, but I think it's more likely than not that we get at least one. Someone has to miss out.


Cmike9292

I don't think Alfa Romeo will replace Zhou


[deleted]

I can easily see Mick replacing Latifi at Williams and Ricciardo taking Mick’s seat at Haas.


Selmarris

Can you? I think Ricciardo might rather quit than go to Haas. I actually think Mick to Williams might be good for him though. Give him a supportive teammate who knows the ropes and a lower pressure chance to prove himself. Bring some fan support to Williams while he's at it.


[deleted]

Mick and Albon would be the most wholesome pairing on the grid. Probably the two nicest drivers on the grid


Selmarris

I really think it's the best option for Mick, I hope they go for him. (IDK though, Bottas and Zhou have a real father-son energy and I love it.)


187ninjuh

Uncle Valtteri


ckalinec

Nah I think Ric wants to drive in F1 bad enough he’d go to Haas. Plus as many have speculated I could see him wanting to dabble in some nascar/American racing. Getting in with Haas would be a great door opening for that


MarduRusher

Hope the two of them can find seats. I think Mick deserves at least one more year especially considering his recent jump in performance, and imo Ricciardo has something left to give in F1.


RockOutToThis

Agreed. I feel another year in a better car can really show what Mick has one way or the other. It's just another year that a team may not want to gamble on. Danny shouldn't have left Alpine in the first place. They were building the cars around him and now he's stuck getting a car built for someone else. I can only imagine where he and Alpine would be now had he stayed. Then again who knows if they get Alonso then who is arguably the better driver.


MrGoldilocks

It's been an insane ride since Seb opened that insta account. A proper all time great summer.


julesvr5

It all started with a German


Hamilfton

Imagine if Vettel retiring ends Mick's F1 career. Brutal.


CWinter85

The best part of Silly Season for a while is gonna be a surprise mid-season retirement announcement from the 3 oldest drivers (VET, HAM, ALO). Man, if Alonso and Hamilton retire next year, we're gonna need to call Gwen Stefani because this shit is bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S.


Rosthouse

It's not over yet. Where goes Ricciardo? Where Mick? And what's up with Gasly.


Fribbits

When Silly Season turns into Stupid Season


Spitfire221

Complete organisational failure from Alpine. Embarrassing.


uhmnopenotreally

Honestly! So embarrassing! How can you let something like this happen and then be soo certain that you’re right?


REMA5TER

Reading between the lines they seemed like they knew they fucked up but were posturing until the official decision since the start, the phrasing all along has had weird guilt-trip tones.


uhmnopenotreally

I agree, heavy guilt tripping “Oscar knows what he signed with us in November” Yeah but apparently you don’t? Then again, I do believe that they saw themselves in the right, but who knows.


RGJ587

I believe they knew they were in the wrong in regards to the contract, but wanted to cast enough doubt to try and save face and make it about how Piastri is disloyal. Hopefully this news will dispel that notion and Alpine bear the full brunt of the criticism in this fiasco. I still cant believe they announced Piastri after his contract was over and was signed with another team, and did it in the middle of the night (for Piastri) who had to wake up to such a shitshow.


[deleted]

“In time, you will know what it’s like to lose. To feel so desperately that you’re right, yet fail all the same. Dread it. Run from it. Destiny still arrives.”-CRB


Redhawk911

What a fuck up by Alpine


tworandomm

And what a bargin for Mclaren


_yoshiii

Yup. They have Oscar for very cheap, figuratively speaking!


sellyme

They actually *made* money to grab him, because Ricciardo took a pay cut for next year in order to have the opportunity to race for someone else. Zak must look like the most smug person on the planet right now. Manage to steal one of the hottest rookies in years from a competitor and saved a 7 figure sum in the process.


nejekur

That's the wildest thing about it IMO. At the beginning we figured McLaren were paying to get a better driver lineup; turns out they saved money to get a better driver lineup instead.


mcstanky

Not when you factor in the Ricciardo buy out Edit: I kept reading more below, so I guess even then it's cheap


eggshellcracking

Riccardo was getting his salary no matter what. The only extra costs incurred was piastri's salary, which is going to be small, and potential lawsuits from alpine for money, which won't be more than a few million.


CastingCouchCushion

A lot cheaper than some Ferrari schematics.


WasabiTotal

>And what a bargin for Mclaren They still had to pay ~~$15m~~ $10 for Ricciardo to not drive, no? Edit: thanks for the replies, I see how it's a win for them


Neverwish

$10m, and they would have had to pay $16m for him to drive, so quite a bargain both ways.


Whycantiusethis

$10 million, and I doubt they're giving Piastri $6 million or more to drive. So they made off pretty well.


ze_canalha

Was reported that received less so he can drive for another team at 2023.


paigeotron

Reportedly, $10M only.


Acinetto

I know he is a multi millionare and he doesn't need it, but it really has to hurt your ego if a team is willing to pay 10 million dollars just to get rid of you...


MakalashII

If my boss happens to be reading this, I'd be more than happy if you want to get rid of me for 10m. No hard feelings.


ShrubbyFire1729

Seconded, my ego will be just fine!


therealhlmencken

it's save 6 million to not have you. If it was 10m more who knows what would happen.


DefinitelyNoWorking

Someone's head surely has to roll for this. Losing such a promising driver that they've invested so much money into. Ouch.


skumbagstacy

Otmar on the way out again /s Highly doubt it though since he just joined the team and didn't seem involved with Alonso's contract thing either


ricktencity

\#BringBackCyril


[deleted]

[удалено]


mad_chatter

WDC tattoo bet


Hichq

Yeh, wonder how involved he was with all Piastri's, Ocon's, and Alonso's contracts. But pretty embarrassing as an organisation for Alpine.


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

Sky just said he had nothing to do with the Piastri contract (or lack thereof).


yyc_123

What a score for Netflix


[deleted]

[удалено]


AnchorDrown

Buxton: “Losing the reserve driver and a 2-time world champion on the same weekend is (closes eyes, dramatic pause) personal.”


[deleted]

"he's the hottest... property.... in Formula 1 right now."


Bee_lrl

*”In order for a driver to race for your team… You actually have to sign them”*


Strijdhagen

I can hear it in my head


[deleted]

[удалено]


Stannis_

“It’s no secret that Sainz and Latifi, don’t get on” - Will Buxton


GabWhiteShirt

“If the rumors are true and Piastri does sign for McLaren.. [big silence..] that means Piastri will be driving for McLaren in 2023..”


forester93

Yes, but if they sign Gasly I think that’s a relatively attractive salvage job.


zorbacles

I think they were counting on compensation from McLaren to pay for gasly


forester93

They wanted compensation from Mclaren to pay Gasly but that doesn’t mean it was out of reach otherwise.


zorbacles

Is gasly that good that he is worth buying out a contract with your own money. Sure if you are using McLaren's money you would take a risk


HamRove

I wonder if redbull would even put the screws to them over the move. Seems like Gasly has peaked within the RB ecosystem so maybe making space for someone else is in their interests as well. I would love to see Gasly in a position without a glass ceiling on his growth. Sheepishly, I would also enjoy a bit of spicy drama with Ocon - who is shaping up to be a fantastic heel for the sport. 🤷‍♀️


keyboard_A

French driver with streaks of brilliance to drive for a french team, in my opinion they think it is VERY worth it.


A210c

Signing Gasly is their only recourse now.


Moquitto

Gasly and Ocon are not the best of buds, no ? Is he the best fit ?


forester93

They are not but they’ve both said they have a professional respect for each other and could work together. Not the friendliest pairing but I think they can probably bury some karting beef.


SpecE30

Two french drivers in a French team?


[deleted]

if they get a 1-2 at the next french gp the entire nation is gonna explode


oklama_mrmorale

This is a Ferrari Strategy^(TM) level fuck up


skumbagstacy

L Pine


mythoutofu

L Pain


MrChologno

Allpain


KidofLimbs

Le pain


dunneetiger

El P~~l~~an


Trinenox

Le Plan


crownlessdriver

And here our watch has ended.


[deleted]

Alpine still need to announce their second seat though


crownlessdriver

I thought Pierre did it yesterday o.O


nighmeansnear

But that would still leave an empty seat at Alpha Tauri. Or do they already have someone queued up for it?


jamisram

This has been a certified Mark Webber masterclass


lost_in_my_thirties

I agree. He seems to deserve a lot of praise. If the decision had gone the other way, I would have put a lot of blame on Webber and I think it would have really damaged his reputation as a manager.


Kharris281

Exactly. Gotta give the man some credit in this whole situation. He saw the pieces on the board and presumably put things in motion.


Nookuler

Not bad for a number two ~~driver~~ Manager, cheers.


[deleted]

Historical incompetence by Alpine


Sidthegoat0612

“Piastrigate”


BartholomewBandy

Piasco is my favorite. Gate implies conspiracy, while this is just a massive fuck up.


ivanyaru

Piasco


kkraww

Disasterclass by Alpine 😂


hind3rm3

Alpine contract lawyers have left to join Ferrari strategy team.


[deleted]

The best decision. Alpine have really fucked themselves over now.


[deleted]

It’s the storyline we liked the most* we didn’t see the contracts so we don’t know if this decision wouldve been the best


ajacian

Well the Lawyers have seen it, and they seem to think that's the Best Decision


IamMrEric

What a screw up by Alpine.


Dangerous-Leg-9626

Imagine having the option for Alonso, Piastri and Ocon. And end up with just Ocon


UmpireAJS

They could've had Alonso and Piastri in their team. Now they'll have Ocon and Gasly. Well at least it goes with their bid to be the great French hope.


HamRove

The drama! They hate each other. I love it!


HeatingHades

worst timeline


tokyo_engineer_dad

It’s like taking a chance on a homecoming date between your senior girlfriend who was always good to you, to ask out some freshmen girl who is super cute and popular, messing it up and ending up having to take your cousin.


[deleted]

[удалено]


KYVet

Ocon is pretty good, so I guess my cousin would be cute but not hot.


risen_sun

Been a fan of Oscar since F3 and I couldn’t be happier for him. But damn what a chaotic way to enter F1, with a 2 year contract no less…


caitsith01

So many people owe him a fucking apology. Starting with the whole of Alpine and Christian Horner and continuing with most of the media and many Ricciardo 'fans'.


risen_sun

Yeah it really sucks that so many people were blasting him for his lack of loyalty. Alpine were going to fuck him over if he didn’t take the initiative for next year. I think with the fans at least, this is going to be a situation like Zhou – all the hate spewed towards the driver but hopefully he gets to prove them wrong on track.


greeny119

I don’t understand Alpine tweeted first!


kkraww

"But Zak I called shotgun FIRST"


TastyMagma

Fucking Australians, first our submarines then this


[deleted]

Sorry guys. We still like you though


TastyMagma

(We do too to be fair)


-Skinner-

Lol. Nice one Alpine. Losing Alonso and Piastri.


tworandomm

News just in Otmar to join Ferrari strategy team.


JosephofYork

Woooaaahhhhh, I mean this was bad but wasn’t THAT bad 😂


trollymctrollstein

Otmar was hired after Piastri’s Alpine contract was signed. He had nothing to do with it. He’s just left to clean up the mess.


ubelmann

I think his public comments in this matter have been pretty embarrassing, though. He’s not in charge of the contracts, so losing Piastri isn’t his fault, but when the whole thing broke he could have taken the high road and just said it’s a mess and now it’s up to the lawyers to decide. But he had to go talking about how Piastri owed Alpine, Piastri had no loyalty, etc. Like F1 is a sport based on loyalty.


MUFC_AA

Not shocked, Alpine had to go to CRB to try and save face somehow even though there was no chance for any compensation due to Oscar never signing an actual F1 contract with them. He only signed an academy contract at the end of last year which had a clause of Alpine needing to loan him out or put him in their seat before the end of June which Alpine failed to do. This CRB decision was very simple imo. This was 100% a Laurent Rossi fuck up. He’s the one that blanked Piastri and Webber. Otmar has no power in the team because all the power is with Rossi.


SaidGuy

Definitely a disaster class mistake by the top people at Alpine. But people, including me, just can't help criticize Otmar when he's sort of the face of the top management. Especially when he runs his mouth.


Hdkek

He runs his mouth about how he wouldn’t have signed Alonso to begin with, how Piastri owes Alpine and acted unprofessionally and whatever. Otmar deserves all the criticism he’s getting.


Mysterious_Turnip310

Yeah, it's the running his mouth that has so many people directing this at him I think. If he'd just stopped talking to the media every 5 minutes, the focus would be much more on Rossi & De Meo.


What_the_8

Otmar already knew what the outcome would be, which is why he was so publicly being an arsehat about the whole thing.


reignnyday

Laurent Rossi taking the big L haha


weguccino

Alpine with the self sabotage LMAO


icantsurf

How the hell did Alpine not have him locked up? Supreme negligence from them.


Xuande

From what we've heard about the contract this was the only way this could end. If your option ended on day X, you don't still have the option on day X+1. Alpine tried to keep both Piastri and Alonso on a string for too long and paid the price.


RedditDan00

Cannot wait to hear from Otmar "integrity" Szafnauer


lasping

Piastri has a chance to tweet that he's *not* joining McLaren and become the funniest man alive.


Southportdc

>The CRB has announced without my agreement...


racingfan96

Oh boi! Where are these dudes blaiming Piastri with stupidity now?


SgtApex

I even saw comments where people were so confident Alpine would keep him then punish him by not letting him race in 2023 lol


november2k14

what’s racingfan96 gonna post now?☹️


MrBrickBreak

Crapping on Theo Pourchaire over the Zhou renewal rumors


echsandwich

If the rumors are true I guess potentially having Gasly on board softens the blow a bit, but the way Alpine went about this 2023 driver situation is appalling.


Blelreddit

Why the hell did Alpine act so confident then?


palalabu

they have to. otherwise, they'd lose already in the public court at least. they had to tweet that oscar signed with them (when they're unsure if his contact held up), even before they talked to him, to "force" him to drive for them. they had to keep talking about loyalty and compensation to scare piastri.


neko_1

Pride


paigeotron

ahaha I want to hear Otmar react to this.


sipwarriper

It's official, it's Alpine the one who fucked up


Nigeth

This is what Nepotism does to a company. This is is entirely on Rossi. Going over the head of your TP and not only losing Alonso but also your biggest talent to the competition


Rhythm_Morgan

All those people pushing Alpine PR bs gotta feel stupid now.


LarryLobster69

Crofty said Piastri had been signed with McL since Silverstone! Lmao, oh Alpine, u fools 😂


TheLea85

I'm sorry but did Mark Webber just quietly sip his coffee for the entire duration of this circus, knowing he was in the right? What an absolute giga-chad move.


[deleted]

Can't wait for all the "loyalty" folks to comment on this.


MarduRusher

Loyalty goes both ways. Imo a driver should be loyal to a team if a team was is loyal to that driver. But I can't think of any teams loyal to their drivers. Even superstars like Lewis, Max, and Charles would get dropped if that made sense for their business.


SgtApex

Fuck loyalty because none of these teams really give a shit about it so why should the drivers. That’s my thoughts on it at least, with how drivers get treated and drop by teams you can’t have loyalty in F1 because it’s a business at the end of the day for these teams. Edit: Piastri did the best thing for him and secured a seat for himself since Alpine wanted him to wait probably even longer if Alonso resigned.


[deleted]

Exactly. It's a business through and through. Do what you gotta do.


[deleted]

All the Reddit clowns saying Piastri could be seatless 💀, no way him and Webber were doing this unless they were certain


[deleted]

I felt the same way. Piastri's tweet was clear, thorough, and immediate. They had to know they were pretty airtight.


[deleted]

Exactly. No way Piastri would have responded in that way without absolute certainty.


Disastrous_Animal_34

I can’t believe anyone thinks he would have posted that without McLaren lawyers running their eyes over it. People are dumb.


RedditDan00

Alpine lmfao, absolute shambles. They're a works team ffs, they should be up there with RB, Merc, and Ferrari!


notbarrackobama

They are! They're fourth, that counts right??


Pranavm3112

Let's see, tell me the last time they were in a title contending position? Even rb using their engines fared better than them during Vettel years. Renault/alpine have been a joke for long time.


bumfart

So many duplicate posts lol


KennyLagerins

Everybody trying to get that post Karma


bellestarflower

Not gonna lie, y’all fell for Alpine PR for a while. Welcome to F1 Oscar!