'No pressure' despite Alonso-Piastri dilemma at Alpine team
Apr.9 - Alpine is under "no pressure" to put reigning Formula 2 champion Oscar Piastri in a race seat for 2023.
In Melbourne, 40-year-old Fernando Alonso announced that he would like to keep racing next year beyond the end of his current contract.
"Two or three more years," said the Spaniard.
"If it's with Alpine, it will be good. If it's with another team, it will be good as well.
"I will start these discussions probably in the summer so let's see."
Teammate Esteban Ocon is under contract through 2024, so Alonso's intention to race on will not be music to the ears of 21-year-old Alpine reserve Piastri.
"It's in Alpine's hands," said the Australian, "but we're both very clear with each other that we want to make this just one year on the sidelines as the reserve driver."
Piastri's manager Mark Webber insists that the Renault-owned team "don't want to see him go".
"Now it's up to them now to make sure that they deliver on getting him into F1."
When asked about the Alonso versus Piastri dilemma, team boss Otmar Szafnauer said it's "great" that the two-time world champion wants to keep racing.
As for whether there's pressure on him to resolve the situation, he insisted: "No, not as we sit here in April.
"I think the pressure and the silly season will be upon us in July."
For his part, Alonso said of Piastri: "Hopefully he finds a seat soon."
He also dismissed any claims that, at the age of 40, it might be the perfect time for him to move over and make room in Formula 1 for a new talent.
"I think if I was 25, there would not be this talk," said Alonso. "People try to find a way for the young talents, but I think this is about performance."
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No evidence of Alonso slowing down, on the contrary, as specially his Australia quali but also most of his performances this year have been giving the impression that Alpine is a fast car, but for now usually it has been fast only in Alonso's hands. He's already extracting seriously hidden pace in the A522, as long as it's not broken down. Alpine do have a car more capable of being fast than last year, but his teammate Ocon isn't doing spectacular things with it as often, is he? Fernando is as skillful as ever to produce magic with a half-decent machine.