"Any Formula 1 fan would be able to recite the message in full. "I understand that, without my agreement, Alpine F1 have put out a press release late this afternoon that I am driving for them next year. This is wrong, and I have not signed a contract for 2023. I will not be driving for Alpine next year." Oscar Piastri's tweet during the 2022 summer break is probably the most famous ever written by a Formula 1 driver -- it was also a humiliating slap in the face to Alpine, who believed they had their driver academy star for the long term. The truth was more damning. McLaren CEO Zak Brown had, in fact, already intervened, capitalizing on a farcical situation at Alpine behind the scenes, and secured the deal. On Sept. 2, 2022, an employment tribunal confirmed what Piastri had defiantly said: he would race for McLaren, not Alpine, in 2023 on a multi-year deal. The rest, as they say, is history."
"Exactly three years later, on Sept. 2, 2025, the contrast could not be sharper. Piastri leads the drivers' championship by 34 points, fresh from teammate Lando Norris' dramatic Dutch Grand Prix retirement. The title appears to be his to lose. His dominant McLaren team are set to repeat as constructors' champions at a canter. On the other hand Alpine, the team that once expected to build its future around him, is rooted to the bottom of the standings,"
Oscar Piastri publicly rejected Alpine's announcement in 2022, tweeting that he had not signed a contract and would not drive for Alpine in 2023. McLaren CEO Zak Brown intervened and secured a multi-year deal for Piastri, confirmed by an employment tribunal on Sept. 2, 2022. By Sept. 2, 2025, Piastri leads the drivers' championship by 34 points while teammate Lando Norris suffered a dramatic Dutch Grand Prix retirement. McLaren look set to repeat as constructors' champions. Alpine, once planning its future around Piastri, sits at the bottom of the standings amid ongoing muddled driver decision-making.
Read at ESPN.com
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