Szafnauer: Alpine went 'above and beyond' its commitment to Piastri

Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer denied suggestions that the Enstone squad had fallen short of its obligations or loyalty to junior driver Oscar Piastri.

On Friday's the FIA's Contract Recognition Board rejected Alpine's claim that it held a valid contract with Piastri for 2023, a decision that green-lighted the F1 rookie's move to McLaren for next season.

The fine print of the CRB's decision revealed a lack of diligence and commitment on Alpine's part towards Piastri, with contract promises and clarifications failing to materialize in a timely manner.

Questioned about Alpine's loyalty towards its young academy member, Szafnauer referred to the team's "heads of terms" agreement, which proved to be legally non-binding, that was signed between at the end of 2021, insisting Alpine "performed on a contract that we thought we had above and beyond."

"We delivered everything above and beyond what we said we were going to do, including 3,500km in last year’s car, making him our reserve driver when McLaren and Mercedes asked if we could share him as a reserve because they didn’t have one," said Szafnauer.

"We allowed him to do that. We paid him. That’s our loyalty to Oscar."

Given how it handled its affairs with both Fernando Alonso and Piastri, Alpine's top brass has come across as laxist and careless in its dealings.

But Szafnauer, who only joined Alpine at the start of the 2022 season, believes the team's public image and reputations is built first and foremost by its performance on the track.

Read also:

• Piastri: 'Breakdown in trust' sunk relationship with Alpine

"We’ll do the best we can, not just for this year but we’ll continue to improve the team," Szafnauer said.

"We’re on a recruiting drive, we’re spending money on tools, we understand what it takes to compete amongst the top three. That’s our goal, with the goal of winning a world championship in five years.

"We’ve got to put the rudiments in place for that to happen, and we’re in the process of doing that. The best thing for Alpine’s image is to win on track, and that’s what we’ll try to do."

As for the consequences of its dealings with Alonso, or who may be held accountable, Szafnauer said that it would be "easy to blame people that aren’t here any more", but that is "not my style".

"The right thing to do is to have a look at what happened, understand where the shortcomings were and fix them for the future," he added.

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