Photo: McLaren F1 team on Twitter
The first week of August has brought both the F1 mid-season vacation and several changes in the 2023 driver roster in the sport. As if someone from Hollywood directed the announcements, the teams went ahead and caused a stir both by the way that they announced changes, and by the timing of such events.
The week started with the announcement that Fernando Alonso will replace Sebastian Vettel at Aston Martin once the German driver retires from the sport. Vettel's retirement was a bit of a surprise at its time, and the same can be said about Alonso's move, although the latter was not as surprising, but not predictable, either.
Now, you might be thinking to yourself that it is over now, right? Wrong, as the driver change for 2023 leaves an empty seat at Alpine. While several of us have submitted our resumes to the French team, we did not get a call back from them. With the cheap pun out of the way, we can write that the team announced it will offer Alonso's former seat to Oscar Piastri, their academy driver.
The news was not a surprise to the world, but Piastri begged to differ, as he announced on social media that he will not drive for Alpine in 2023. The surprising PR mishap led to a series of memes that were posted on social media, which only make everyone more curious as to who will take the empty seat in the Alpine team, and where will Oscar Piastri race starting next year.
Once those waters cleared, others became fuzzy, as Piastri was reportedly signed as a reserve driver for McLaren, but sources left unnamed by Motorsport.com revealed that the crew wanted to first agree on Ricciardo's departure from the team and then offer Oscar a fully-fledged seat on the grid starting with the 2023 season.
As you have probably been accustomed to the situation in the last few paragraphs, there is still no official word on what will happen with Ricciardo, who should have a three-year contract with McLaren signed ever since he left Renault.
It is believed that Daniel Ricciardo is looking for a new team for 2023, but that remains unconfirmed, as well, so all we can do right now is wait and see what information gets an official confirmation, and what remains a rumor that may or may not turn out to be true at a later date. Who said the F1 break was going to be boring was mistaken, at least for the 2022 season.
Now, you might be thinking to yourself that it is over now, right? Wrong, as the driver change for 2023 leaves an empty seat at Alpine. While several of us have submitted our resumes to the French team, we did not get a call back from them. With the cheap pun out of the way, we can write that the team announced it will offer Alonso's former seat to Oscar Piastri, their academy driver.
The news was not a surprise to the world, but Piastri begged to differ, as he announced on social media that he will not drive for Alpine in 2023. The surprising PR mishap led to a series of memes that were posted on social media, which only make everyone more curious as to who will take the empty seat in the Alpine team, and where will Oscar Piastri race starting next year.
Once those waters cleared, others became fuzzy, as Piastri was reportedly signed as a reserve driver for McLaren, but sources left unnamed by Motorsport.com revealed that the crew wanted to first agree on Ricciardo's departure from the team and then offer Oscar a fully-fledged seat on the grid starting with the 2023 season.
As you have probably been accustomed to the situation in the last few paragraphs, there is still no official word on what will happen with Ricciardo, who should have a three-year contract with McLaren signed ever since he left Renault.
It is believed that Daniel Ricciardo is looking for a new team for 2023, but that remains unconfirmed, as well, so all we can do right now is wait and see what information gets an official confirmation, and what remains a rumor that may or may not turn out to be true at a later date. Who said the F1 break was going to be boring was mistaken, at least for the 2022 season.
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