F1since1980 wrote: ↑Sat Aug 06, 2022 7:55 pm
But I would think what was good for George Russell (didn't have much choice), should also be good for Oscar
no harm in that seat
I'm sure Piastri would have been more than happy to drive for Williams in 2022 and move to Alpine or McLaren in 2023. Piastri had, however, stated a preference to not be stuck at the back of the grid as long as Russell was which is also perfectly reasonable.
For a delayed 2023 debut however, a McLaren debut is clearly superior to Williams -- incidentally the same as Norris and many others (Vandoorne, Magnussen, Hamilton).
Notwithstanding the strangeness of an Alpine 2023 debut being withheld as in the past Alpine was more than happy to debut rookies (Palmer, Petrov, Piquet, Kovalainen), yet now Piastri is apparently not good enough to debut at Alpine. On this matter, Alpine had **eight months** to confirm Piastri as their 2023 Alpine driver and did nothing.
Mogster wrote: ↑Sat Aug 06, 2022 10:21 pm
So why shouldn’t they have a say in his near future, why not drive for Williams in 2023?
Even with Piastri's Williams drive being delayed to 2023 instead of 2022, a 2024 Alpine was
still not guaranteed as Otmar had stated every intention of extending Alonso if he was still driving well. On this basis, a guaranteed 2023-2024 McLaren drive is clearly superior to a 2023 Williams with an unguaranteed 2024 Alpine drive. This appears to be clear and simple reason as to why not drive for Williams in 2023.
A Williams (or Alfa Romeo or HAAS) drive for 2022 and move to Alpine for 2023 would indeed have been far more attractive, but this was not offered by Alpine sadly. Even so, Alpine had a late chance to fix their error so it was very strange indeed to see that Alpine made no efforts or monetary offers for Piastri to secure the seat vacated by Nikita Mazepin as late as pre-season testing...