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The Alpine Formula 1 team have terminated the employment of a key legal figure who was closely involved in the loss of Oscar Piastri to McLaren for 2023. After Fernando Alonso jumped ship to Aston Martin for next season in August to replace Sebastian Vettel, the team hoped to replace him with junior and reserve driver Piastri. However, he publicly rejected this offer stating that he "would not be driving" for the Enstone-squad alongside Esteban Ocon. By this stage in early August, Piastri had already signed a deal to join McLaren having never put pen to paper on a potential race drive with Alpine after repeated failings in the contract process, with the Contract Recognition Board's ruling exclusively revealed by TheFOXposts.Com. Alpine have now responded by relieving director of legal affairs Benedicte Mercer of her responsibilities. Viewed by others: ...

Fernando Alonso has revealed his main target for his final race with Alpine at Abu Dhabi. The team are fighting for P4 in the Constructors' Championship with McLaren, with just 19 points between them following a strong finish from Alpine in Brazil. Alonso anticipates that it will be difficult to repeat their performance at Sao Paulo, but hopes to finish on a high after suffering from poor reliability throughout the year. "I think it has been up and down a little bit for us in terms of performance, but also reliability has been our weakest point," Alonso told media, including TheFOXposts.Com . "So, let's see if we can finish the season on a high and with a good result here. About how competitive we can be, I don't think that we can repeat the Brazil performance." Viewed by others: ...

Fernando Alonso will aim to "take care" of Sebastian Vettel in the four-time World Champion's final Formula 1 race in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Alonso – who is sporting a Vettel tribute helmet this weekend – qualified 11th at the Yas Marina Circuit, with old rival Vettel ninth for his 299th and final Grand Prix start before retirement. However, as Daniel Ricciardo is set for a three-place grid drop for colliding with Kevin Magnussen in Brazil, it promotes Alonso to 10th, meaning that he will share the fifth row of the grid with Vettel. The two-time World Champion says he hopes to be able to protect Vettel during the race. Alonso on Vettel "I was very happy," Alonso explained to media, including TheFOXposts.Com , after qualifying. "It's not that we tried to help him, but we are trying to have an eye on him, when we see him in the mirror or when he...

Esteban Ocon has admitted his satisfaction at becoming the fourth Formula 1 driver to beat Fernando Alonso over the course of a season after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Ocon entered the Yas Marina finale on 85 points to Alonso's 81 as Alpine looked to secure fourth place in the Constructors' Championship. The Frenchman held an advantage over Alonso all weekend and outqualified his two-time World Champion teammate, before enjoying a stronger race. Ocon would go onto finish eighth – after Alonso suffered yet another 2022 retirement thanks to a water leak – and also beat his teammate in the standings, finishing 11 points ahead in eighth place to Alonso's ninth. In doing this, Ocon became just the fourth teammate to ever finish ahead of Alonso, an achievement he was proud of as the Spaniard departs for Aston Martin in 2023. Teammates to have beaten Fernan...

Jack Doohan admits that he is reluctant to take a reserve driver role in Formula 1 just yet after missing out on a possible race seat for 2023. The Alpine Academy driver has previously spoken of his attempts to be considered for the spot in the team that became available when Fernando Alonso announced his departure for Aston Martin. This position later went to Pierre Gasly, while Doohan looks set to remain in Formula 2 after finishing the 2022 championship in sixth place. The Australian is keen to focus on racing going forwards, rather than taking on a reserve role in F1. "There's possibilities of what I could be enrolled into the Formula 1 team but, honestly, being a reserve driver or not doesn't help me or doesn't do anything really for me," Doohan told media, including TheFOXposts.Com , after taking part in the Abu Dhabi post-season test for Alpine. "The main priority is to focus fully on Formula 2, because I could come around to all the...

Zak Brown has labelled Otmar Szafnauer's comments about Oscar Piastri in the wake of a dispute over his services as "inaccurate and unfair". The row erupted when Alpine named Piastri – who had been serving as their reserve driver – as part of their 2023 line-up following Fernando Alonso's exit for Aston Martin, only for Piastri to later deny that he had signed for Alpine. Piastri had agreed a deal to race at McLaren as Daniel Ricciardo's replacement and the case was taken to the Contract Recognition Board, with the verdict going in McLaren's favour. It was then confirmed in September that Piastri would join Lando Norris at the Woking-based squad next season. Following the controversy, Alpine boss Szafnauer said that he had "expected more loyalty" from Piastri, and suggested that there had been a lack of "integrity", something that Brown takes issue with. ...

Otmar Szafnauer says he believes Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly 's affirmations that their karting feud will not impact the Alpine Formula 1 team when they join forces in 2023. Gasly will drive for Alpine as of next season, having completed a switch from AlphaTauri to fill the vacant seat alongside French compatriot Ocon after Fernando Alonso departed for Aston Martin. Both Ocon and Gasly's F1 records are remarkably similar in terms of starts, wins, podiums and points, and the two also both hail from the Normandy region. However, there is a feud between them that stems back to their days in go-karting, which has morphed into more professional respect than mutual adoration as they climbed the ranks to Grand Prix racing. The two have committed to putting this behind them and working together for the sake of Alpine's push towards championship contention, and boss Szafnauer is prepared to take them at their word. ...

Alpine Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer says his team deserved their fourth place finish in the 2022 F1 Constructors' Championship. Just as in 2021, the Enstone squad finished some way behind Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes, but rose one place to fourth place in the overall standings after leapfrogging McLaren following a season-long battle. Alpine had scored an unlikely win in 2021, with Esteban Ocon's surprising but deserved victory at a chaotic Hungarian Grand Prix, and though the Enstone squad did not manage a top-three finish in 2022, they still increased their overall points total to 173, up from 155 in 2021. "I think fourth is probably where we deserve to be," Szafnauer said in response to a question from TheFOXposts.Com . "We should have a [few] more points than we do – we had some reliability issues. I look forward to next year fixing those. "We should have a more reliable powertrain next year, even though some of the issues we had were...

Esteban Ocon believes he would be able to beat Max Verstappen in a championship showdown if Alpine can become a race-winning team. The Frenchman progressed through the junior championships alongside Verstappen and beat the Dutchman to the 2014 European Formula 3 Championship. Their on-track duels have been rare since: Verstappen's Red Bull career has yielded two World Championships and 35 Grands Prix wins, whilst Ocon only took his maiden F1 win at last season's Hungarian GP. In an interview with Dutch publication NOS , Ocon was asked about his current relationship with Verstappen, with the pair having come to blows after the 2019 Brazilian GP following a collision between the two. "We get along fine now and have a lot of respect for each other. I wish him all the best," Ocon responded. "He is simply a super talent now. Max is always and everywhere competitive and has been for years. "I've known it since I was a kid. Ever since karting h...

New Alpine signing Pierre Gasly believes his new team have the potential to achieve " fantastic results " in 2023 and beyond. The Frenchman is moving to Alpine after five and a half seasons in F1 that have been spent driving solely for Red Bull-affiliated teams. Gasly's first run in an Alpine came at the post-season test in Abu Dhabi, and the Frenchman has since talked up his prospects with the Enstone-based outfit, who moved up one place in the Constructors' Championship in 2022 to finish fourth. "I'm very confident from what I've seen that there's potential to achieve fantastic results," Gasly told media, including TheFOXposts.Com . "I really believe this team is a fresh start for me, and also an opportunity to make something amazing together. "They have had the best season so far since they came back. I think they are on a trajectory, improving season after season. "From what I've seen today, from what they...

Otmar Szafnauer has called on Formula 1 bosses to make adjustments to the penalty points system as his new driver Pierre Gasly is threatened by a ban. Gasly – who switches from AlphaTauri to Alpine for 2023 – racked up 10 penalty points on his superlicence in 2022, with 12 the threshold to trigger a one-race ban. No driver has yet to reach 12 points, but Gasly's next set of points are due to be wiped on 22 May 2023 after the Spanish Grand Prix, in nine races' time. Faced with the prospect of a ban, the Frenchman has called the situation "embarrassing", and his new team boss feels that a change is required on the account of more races being on the calendar. Viewed by others: Christian Horner Horner pinpoints key Verstappen differen...

Jack Doohan has hailed his decision to leave Red Bull for Alpine as the "best" of his career so far. The Australian had previously been a member of the Red Bull Junior Team since 2017, but opted to make the move to the Alpine Academy ahead of the 2022 season. Since then, Doohan – who finished P6 in this year's Formula 2 championship, in which he competed for the Virtuosi Racing squad – has been given two Free Practice 1 drives for the Alpine F1 team, as well as getting behind the wheel at the Abu Dhabi post-season test. As such, the 19-year-old feels that he made the right decision in switching teams. Doohan 'grateful' for Red Bull to Alpine switch When asked how being a part of Alpine had impacted him in 2022, Doohan told media, including TheFOXposts.Com : "I think massively. "I would say, I would no way be in this position of even having two FP1s, o...

Esteban Ocon is confident that Alpine can make the next step to challenge the top three F1 teams in the near future. After finishing fifth in the 2021 Constructors' Championship, the squad continued their progression in 2022 by beating McLaren to P4, having outscored them by 14 points. While he feels that there is still a gap to the teams ahead, Ocon believes that the result puts Alpine in a prime position to challenge the leading outfits on the grid. Ocon confident Alpine are on 'right path' "We should be the next one coming in that fight, because we are the fourth [placed team]," Ocon told media, including TheFOXposts.Com , over the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend. "We look to be in good shape at the moment and, hopefully, we're on the right path. "Hopefully we can continue our way of improving things, and that will be the breakthrough for next ...