Alpine lose Oscar Piastri to McLaren for 2023 | F1 News
Oscar Piastri will reportedly drive for McLaren F1 in 2023, as the FIA contract recognition board has validated the Australian's deal with McLaren.
This report comes from racingnews365, who reveal that Piastri has signed a contract to race with McLaren in 2023 which has now been validated.
Despite Alpine's belief that Piastri was contractually bound to them, it has been ruled that Alpine did not exercise their option to keep the 21-year-old's services for 2023 within the necessary time frame.
The French Squad released a statement on social media saying that Piastri had been "promoted" to Alpine for 2023 only a few days ago.
However, it seems Piastri's swift rejection of this claim on social media has been supported by the FIA's contract recognition board, the highest authority in F1 regarding driver contracts.
Alpine will be unable to protest this ruling, meaning that Piastri and McLaren will be free to join forces in the 2023 F1 season.
There is still the matter of Daniel Ricciardo's future to address, as his contract gives him the ability to opt-in for another season with McLaren in 2023.
If the Woking team has indeed signed with Piastri for 2023, it means they are willing to pay the price for prematurely ending their agreement with Ricciardo.
It is also plausible that Ricciardo does not officially opt-in to another season with McLaren, seeing the writing on the wall and moving to Alpine.
Whilst there are still some details to be finalised, it seems only a matter of time until Piastri makes the switch to McLaren.