Alpine boss open to Daniel Ricciardo return after Oscar Piastri drama and Fernando Alonso exit
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Published 08/08/2022 at 08:10 GMT
Alpine's plans for the 2023 Formula One season are still unclear after Oscar Piastri ruled out a move to the team to replace Fernando Alonso, who is set to join Aston Martin and take over from Sebastian Vettel. Daniel Ricciardo is currently under contract with McLaren but could be an option to return to Alpine, who he left two years ago.
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Alpine boss Otmar Szafnauer has not ruled out a return for Daniel Ricciardo in 2023 if a move for Oscar Piastri does not go through.
Alpine’s plans for next season currently appear up in the air after Fernando Alonso announced he would be leaving to join Aston Martin.
The team said Piastri would be replacing the two-time champion, only for the 21-year-old to deny he would be doing so.
It has been reported that Piastri is instead heading to McLaren, which could result in Ricciardo being released.
Ricciardo drove for Alpine, who were previously known as Renault, for two seasons from 2019 before joining McLaren.
Even though Ricciardo did not depart on the best of terms, it seems a return could be possible after changes at the helm at the team.
"I don't think that's an issue at all,” Szafnauer told Autosport.
“I think what we need to focus on is the plans that we have for the next 89-88 races.
"We've got to make sure that we complement that plan with the best driver that we can, and there are some options out there for us.
"And we put the best driver in next to Esteban [Ocon], so that we can move forward towards what we've been planning."
Szafnauer also said they would not hold anything against Piastri, likening his recent announcement to when Jenson Button committed to Williams in 2003 only to end up at BAR Honda.
"I've been around long enough where I've seen this kind of thing actually play out and happen," said Szafnauer.
"When Jenson signed with Williams and ended up at British American Racing Honda, if you remember those days, there was absolutely no issue.
"I mean, I know Oscar is different from Jenson. Hopefully we don't have to go down that route, anyway.
"But your presumption was, oh, a driver wants to go somewhere else. So hopefully that's not the case.
"But I have seen it where a driver actually signed with another team incorrectly, so had to drive for the team that he initially signed with.
"And it was absolutely no issue. Jenson at the time did a stellar job at BAR, and never ended up at Williams."
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