The moment which put Piastri on track for F1 stardom with McLaren as Alpine struggles

It’s the tweet that changed everything for Oscar Piastri.

A blunt 48-word message in 2022 paved the way for the Australian driver to lead the current Formula 1 standings with McLaren, rather than struggling to get into the top 10 with Alpine.

“I understand that, without my agreement, Alpine F1 have put out a press release late this afternoon that I am driving for them next year,” Piastri wrote. “This is wrong and I have not signed a contract with Alpine for 2023. I will not be driving for Alpine next year.”

Nearly three years on from Piastri — who was then Alpine’s reserve — snubbing the team for McLaren in such a public way, it’s clear he made the right choice.

Piastri has won four of the six races this season and is on a three-win streak. He has 131 points while Alpine has seven points in total and last won a race nearly four years ago.

Piastri is targeting a fourth consecutive win in the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix on Sunday, but suspects the bumpy Imola track could mean tougher competition for McLaren than two weeks ago in Miami.

“When you’ve won four out of six, it’s been a great start. I’ve been enjoying the success on track but, for me, what’s been very satisfying is all the work we’ve done behind the scenes to achieve that,” he said. “It’s quite a different feeling when you win a race because you feel like you’ve just gotten by or had good circumstances. But to now be winning because we have an incredibly quick car and I feel like I’m driving well, that’s very satisfying.”

Piastri fastest in practice

Piastri and McLaren had the pace again Friday to be fastest in both practice sessions, but only by narrow margins from teammate and title rival Lando Norris.

In the first session, Piastri was fastest by .0032 of a second ahead of Norris. Carlos Sainz Jr. was third fastest for Williams, .020 off Norris’ time. Defending champion Max Verstappen was only seventh fastest for Red Bull.

Piastri and McLaren stretched their advantage over other teams in the second session as he led by .025 from Norris, but Alpine’s Pierre Gasly was .276 back in third.

Both sessions had red flags. The first was stopped when Gabriel Bortoleto slid off track and tapped the barrier, leaving his Sauber stuck in the gravel, while the second was interrupted for Isack Hadjar of Racing Bulls spinning off into a barrier.

Alpine’s rocky season

Alpine isn’t challenging the top teams on pace but it’s in pole position for drama.

The Renault-owned team was expected for months to drop Australian driver Jack Doohan, a rookie, for the fast but inconsistent reserve Franco Colapinto.

At the Miami Grand Prix, team principal Oliver Oakes dismissed that claim, but two days after the Miami race Oakes suddenly resigned. A day later, Alpine dropped Doohan — whose best race result was 13th — after the Miami GP and promoted Colapinto.

The Argentine driver, a mid-season replacement at Williams in 2024, is happy to be back in F1 but expressed reservations Thursday about how the whole process has been handled.

Colapinto said it’s “never nice circumstances” to get a seat at another driver’s expense, and expressed concern his new deal — which runs for only five races — isn’t long enough to really show what he can do.

Italian fans have something to cheer

The first of two races in Italy this year is already delighting the home fans.

For the first time since 2021, they have an Italian driver in Mercedes’ 18-year-old Kimi Antonelli, and Ferrari’s red-clad tifosi fans get their first sight of Lewis Hamilton racing for the team on Italian soil.

It was a mixed day for Ferrari on Friday, though, as Hamilton and Charles Leclerc complained of braking issues in practice. In the first session, Hamilton was fifth and Leclerc 12th. In the second, Leclerc was sixth and Hamilton 11th.

Piastri, too, has been connecting with his Italian heritage as he met with some “very, very distant relatives” and became an honorary citizen of Licciana Nardi in Tuscany, where his family name originated.

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing