Otmar Szafnauer referred to Oscar Piastri as "selfish" as the Alpine team principal made it clear he is still unhappy about how the Aussie defected to rivals McLaren.
Piastri will make his Formula 1 debut next season, replacing his compatriot Daniel Ricciardo at McLaren. But the 2021 F1 champion's move was only confirmed after a lengthy and unpleasant legal battle between the two teams.
He had come through the ranks as a member of Alpine's driver development programme, but had to settle for being a reserve this season as the team had no space to promote him to an F1 race seat. So, with the help of his manager Mark Webber, he negotiated and struck a secret deal to join McLaren.
When Fernando Alonso surprised Alpine by announcing he would be leaving for Aston Martin, they immediately turned to Piastri to promote him for 2023. But within minutes of that plan being announced publicly, the 21-year-old denied having signed a race contract with the team.
After a legal battle, F1's Contracts Recognition Board ruled that McLaren were the only ones who had a valid contract with Piastri and so his move was confirmed. But Szafnauer and chief executive Laurent Rossi both made it clear they were less than happy with the way the driver had forced the move.
Asked if the saga had taught him a lesson about the cut-throat nature and politics of F1, Szafnauer gave a philosophical response which included a subtle dig at Piastri. "I think species that collaborate, survive. Species that are selfish, perish," he told reporters.
"That's true in history, and I think that might apply to Formula 1, too, but let's see what the future brings." Szafnauer also went on to clarify comments made by Rossi in the wake of Piastri's defection, in which he appeared to suggest the team would consider shutting down its driver academy.
And it appears that, after a few months of giving it some thought, Alpine have decided to continue providing that pathway for younger drivers. "At the time, you look at everything," admitted the American.
"I think Laurent said that we've got to reconsider that if we spend this money and get drivers to a certain spot and they want to go elsewhere, should we really be doing this? That was something we looked at, but we definitely continue to be committed to the young driver programme and to the Alpine Academy."
