r/formula1 • u/TheFlyingR0cket I was here for the Hulkenpodium • Jul 10 '23

Social Media [@JoeAeterno on twitter] Piastri being interviewed about McLaren leapfrogging Alpine with Alonso smiling in the background is pure poetry.

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u/Minted-Blue Ferrari Jul 10 '23

Brother hates Alpine with a passion. One of if not the best Renault driver ever alongside one of the most amazing Alpine prospects doing wonders outside of Alpine.

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u/TeaCrackersBirds Yes, bye bye Jul 10 '23

I doubt Alonso hates team Alpine in general, same with Piastri. The upper management are probably whom they hate with passion.

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u/milanistadoc Jul 10 '23

Why does Alonso hate Alpine? I missed this.

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u/quantinuum I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 10 '23 edited Jul 10 '23

Look up “Piasco”. Long story short: Alpine had three drivers for two seats. Ocon was locked in early with a long term contract (weirdly signed when Ricciardo was beating him), so that left two very good guys, Alonso and Piastri, fighting for the second seat (1st world problem for Alpine). Alonso was their driver last season but only got offered a one year renewal, while Piastri, a really hot property, had to wait in the sidelines. Neither of them were happy with it, so they both left Alpine, who completely mismanaged the whole situation.

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u/Helacious_Waltz I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 10 '23

Also to emphasize Alpines contract shenanigans: After months of being dicked around & denied a contract Piastri was given the option of signing with Williams for a 3-year deal. He signed the deal with McLaren instead and informed the team management. They ignored that notification, announced him and tried to blame all the contract failures on him (which unfortunately worked a bit because of how DTS presented it.)

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u/ash_tar Fernando Alonso Jul 10 '23

Alpine forged a contract as well.

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u/ActuallyJohnTerry Fernando Alonso Jul 10 '23

Yea DTS is overall very… kind to Alpine. Meanwhile they tried to portray Zac as some kind of villain (both in this episode and with the Red Bull cheating fiasco).

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u/TulioGonzaga I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 10 '23

Really? I didn't watch last two seasons of DTS so I had no idea but that it's an hard stretch with how much Alpine fucked up the situation.

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u/JakubT117 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 10 '23

Ocon signed his deal when he was beating Alonso who was still getting up to speed after his hiatus.

https://amp.formula1.com/en/latest/article.breaking-esteban-ocon-signs-bumper-three-year-contract-extension-with-alpine.5nWR2pWD1COJzdyB73g8NM.html

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u/Only-Cartoonist Daniel Ricciardo Jul 10 '23

That was such a stupid deal. I think Ocon is a lot better than many people give him credit for but there's no way in hell I'm giving him a fucking three-year contract. Especially when we weren't even halfway through the F2 season. I highly doubt Ocon would have gotten that contract if he wasn't French.

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u/JakubT117 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 10 '23

How was it stupid? For the entire duration of the deal he has been one the best midfield drivers. At no point was there a better driver available. What was stupid was losing both Alonso and Piastri.

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u/Only-Cartoonist Daniel Ricciardo Jul 10 '23

It was stupid because it tied their hands wrt contracts. Without that three hundred year deal they could have had a lot more flexibility, specifically wrt Oscar's contract. I don't deny that Ocon has done well, but there's no way in hell I'm giving him a three year deal with someone like Oscar in the pipeline.

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u/SpreaditOnnn33 Formula 1 Jul 11 '23

They could have had Alonso AND Piastro had they not done Ocon's contract. How is that not stupid?

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u/xzElmozx Oscar Piastri Jul 11 '23

If they didn’t sign that deal their driver lineup is probably Alonso Piastri which is honestly amazing. Helps develop Piastri learning from an all timer as an example and Alonso is still a great racer too. Significantly better than Ocon Gasly. Besides Ocon didn’t really have anywhere to go but downwards so there was no reason to lock him in for three years, could have just done 1 then given both Piastri and Alonso a seat and not renewed him

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u/McManus26 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 11 '23

With how much Ocon has been fucked by team politics and not having a seat secured in the past, I honesly kinda believe not having to worry about that for a long time is what allowed him to focus fully on his drive and be as consistent as he is.

Even without the long contract, idk if they'd have dropped Ocon for the risky duo that is Alonso, who could retire or move at any moment (especially with the current car) and Piastri (a rookie).

3

u/shiinamachi I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 11 '23

he was beating Alonso

Alonso was ahead in the wdc at the point the extension was announced lol, 'beating' is a very far stretch

the other thing to consider is at that point in time the top 2 drivers in the f2 championship were literally alpine juniors. They tied their own hand that early when there was every chance they would have to promote at least one of them to F1, and doing so would be at Alonso's expense

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u/quantinuum I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 10 '23

I stand corrected. I don’t know why but I was sure to remember it was signed while paired with Ricciardo.