The truth in the Piastri case – at McLaren since July 4th
Alpenhut overslept everything
The truth in the Piastri case – at McLaren since July 4th
The Formula 1 arbitration court in Geneva has decided. The 2021 Formula 2 champion, Oscar Piastri (21), will be allowed to drive for McLaren-Mercedes from next season. That became known before the second Zandvoort training session. Fastest: Leclerc (Ferrari).
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The Oscar Piastri case: McLaren-Mercedes celebrates – Alpine gets nothing.
The young Australian, who has received millions from Alpine since 2019, denied Alpine’s report on August 2 that Piastri was driving for the French in 2023, shortly afterwards with a tweet: “I’m not driving for Alpine!”
“The case was always clear!”
The chaos had begun the day before, when Alonso Alpine gave up and signed for two years with Aston-Martin-Mercedes as Vettel’s successor. Now the arbitral tribunal with three independent lawyers had to come to a verdict in the Piastri case after examining the contracts.
McLaren team boss Andreas Seidl: “For us, the case was always clear. We knew we were right. I do not want to say more!”
Alpine dreamed for weeks
Alpine sent a six-line message to the defeat in Geneva: “We take note of the decision and will announce our drivers in due course.” No word on whether Piastri is still being asked to pay damages for the services rendered.
Alpine now has to prick up its ears: the Australian, managed by compatriot Mark Webber, signed for McLaren-Mercedes on July 4th (!). Even weeks before the traditional team Ricciardo fired at the end of the year! And Alpenhut heard or suspected nothing for weeks.
“Gasly can walk if…”
Well, Alpine needs a second driver now. Pierre Gasly (26) is on pole position. The 2020 Monza winner will go to Alpha Tauri. And what does Red Bull Motorsport Director Helmut Marko say? “If all the conditions are met, Gasly can go!”
And the Bulls’ B team then has to go looking for a driver. Next to Tsunoda you will definitely build up a talent again. Nothing Schumi or Ricciardo either!
How strong is Mercedes?
During the first training session on the North Sea coast, Mercedes surprised with a double lead (Russell ahead of Hamilton), with last year’s winner Verstappen having to stop Red Bull-Honda after seven laps – gearbox problems. Penultimate – but that didn’t detract from the orange folk festival in Zandvoort.
Alfa-Sauber twice behind
In the afternoon, the two Ferraris take the lead first. And Leclerc and Sainz were able to fend off the attacks of the British trio Hamilton, Norris and Russell.
Alfa-Sauber remained below expectations in both training sessions and in the last quarter: Zhou ahead of Bottas. Is there a threat of the sixth zero in a row? The qualification on Saturday at 3 p.m. will decide a lot.
The Clean Voices
Valtteri Bottas: “We were able to do some clean laps, which is always a positive, but it was quite a tough day. It was quite windy and that might have contributed to the car’s balance feeling a bit inconsistent: whatever the cause, we have to expect to see how we can improve for qualifying tonight. The grid will be important at this tight circuit and I expect everyone’s set-up to be a bit focused on one-lap performance: Ultimately, the challenge is the same for everyone, so we’ll see how it goes tomorrow.”
Guanyuzhou: “Of course today was quite a difference from the last time I drove here. There are a lot of corners now and it’s very different to drive a Formula 1 car on them. In terms of learning the track, today was a really smooth day: we didn’t have any problems and while we haven’t found the best balance for the car yet, we will definitely find it tomorrow. Zandvoort is a high downforce track that is always quite dirty due to the gravel and proximity to the beach. It will be very tight again in midfield.”
Valtteri Bottas: “We were able to do some clean laps, which is always a positive, but it was quite a tough day. It was quite windy and that might have contributed to the car’s balance feeling a bit inconsistent: whatever the cause, we have to expect to see how we can improve for qualifying tonight. The grid will be important at this tight circuit and I expect everyone’s set-up to be a bit focused on one-lap performance: Ultimately, the challenge is the same for everyone, so we’ll see how it goes tomorrow.”
Guanyuzhou: “Of course today was quite a difference from the last time I drove here. There are a lot of corners now and it’s very different to drive a Formula 1 car on them. In terms of learning the track, today was a really smooth day: we didn’t have any problems and while we haven’t found the best balance for the car yet, we will definitely find it tomorrow. Zandvoort is a high downforce track that is always quite dirty due to the gravel and proximity to the beach. It will be very tight again in midfield.”