"I have recently learned from the media that this afternoon, without my approval, Chip Ganassi Racing issued a press release announcing that I would be driving with CGR in 2023. Even more surprising was that CGR’s release included a “quote” which did not come from me. I did not approve that press release, and I did not author or approve that quote. As I have recently informed CGR, for personal reasons, I do not intend to continue with the team after 2022." Should've just find+replaced Palou's old tweet
So Alpine has effectively lost both Alonso and Piastri in the span of roughly 24 hours? I mean, that's kind of impressive.
doubtful. more likely that another team will have to pay alpine compensation. forcing a driver to drive for your team when he doesn't want to is not good for anyone.
I obviously don't have all the facts (nor does anyone), but I think there's a couple factors that may lead to this: 1) Alpine has huge egg on their face right now after the Alonso and now Piastri disaster and I could see them acting very irrationally in response 2) I was under the impression that McLaren was going through some financial difficulty - maybe they've turned it around, but I'm not sure they have the wherewithal to buy out DR and then pay Alpine compensation for Piastri. I'm pretty sure they aren't even spending up to the cap this year. Either way I think you're right that the natural solution is some type of settlement overall, but I think I could see it getting pretty spicy depending on the facts.
No idea what Daniel's buyout would look like in terms of $$, but McLaren alleviated their financial issues late in 2020 with with the sale/leaseback of the MTC and some fresh equity from a VC group. They're definitely running up to the cap this year because they were one of the teams asking for an inflation adjustment. All that said, I doubt they have "fuck you" level financial freedoms right now, so having to eat a buyout and kick a settlement to Alpine still probably isn't ideal.
Who is McLaren's lawyer? How is it possible that the same team has "signed" 2 drivers who then are still under contract by another team. Wild stuff.
Alpine holds all the cards at this point. Oscar can tweet all he wants but the contract is in the hands of Alpine. I get why he wouldn't want to race at Alpine given the chance to race at McLaren. But it doesn't work that way. Someone is going to have to cut a massive check. This is probably Oscar sensing his worth and attempting to renegotiate better terms with Alpine.
Getting a full time ride and being loaned out as a reserve driver are two different animals. It seems like Alpine agreed to let Oscar become the reserve driver at McLaren next year. But they still retain the rights on if/when he becomes the fulltime driver for Alpine or any team. I don't think this was the same type of deal Mercedes cut with Williams over Russell or Alpine over Ocon. Or what Ferrari has done with Mick at Haas.
One of my favorite parts about this saga, and F1 in general, is that all of this is from their official accounts. They’re not leaking rumors or trial balloons through Buxton or whoever. Just fire it out from their own accounts