Oscar Piastri was one the verge of completing his loan-style switch to Williams when he backed out in favour of a move to McLaren, it has been revealed.
The Australian's future was the story of the summer after things turned sour between him and Alpine. The Enstone-based outfit had supported his journey through the feeder series, including the F2 championship which he won last season.
When Fernando Alonso surprised Alpine by choosing to leave and join Aston Martin next season, they announced soon after that Piastri would be promoted to take his place. But the driver refused and, after a lengthy legal battle, it was confirmed that he will drive for McLaren in 2023.
Alpine chief executive Laurent Rossi has now revealed more details about the situation. In an interview with the official F1 website, he claimed: "We feel like we delivered. We went above and beyond. We hired a person just to find him a seat [with another team], because we wanted to do that properly. By the end of April, we found him a seat at Williams.
"When the Williams opportunity was about to turn into a concrete deal, so much so that the seat fitting was scheduled, [Piastri's representatives] said 'we have a possible opportunity at McLaren'. It was a bit disappointing. We felt it was a bit strange, because we expected a bit more loyalty considering how much we put in there.
"He didn't say he was going to go, he said he had an opportunity. Then we saw in July, the sixth I think, that [Daniel] Ricciardo was confirming for the year after. So we thought there is interest, but there might not even be a seat. There was perhaps an opportunity, the door is closing, so Oscar is still in play for us. It explains why we decided to promote him – he was reserve and we elevated in the same framework to race driver.
"[Team principal Otmar Szafnauer] saw him, told him, and we announced it. We never knew for a fact he had signed. He never told us. We still believed the Williams seat was a great one, a great opportunity to learn without a bit less pressure – a very good team to learn in, very seasoned, capable of growing talents like George [Russell]."
Szafnauer said publicly that Piastri "smiled" when he was told he would be given a race seat for 2023, but the Aussie has since since slammed the way Alpine went about it. "That was a bizarre and frankly upsetting episode," he revealed after his McLaren move was finally confirmed.
"It was done publicly in front of some members of the team who were oblivious to the situation and I didn't want to cause a scene in front of them. Once we were in private, I told Otmar what our position was and what he had been told multiple times before that. It was very surprising to me to make that announcement."
