Mercedes team principal, Toto Wolff, is unsure how wise Oscar Piastri is to publicly turn down his Alpine team on social media.
Piastri won both the Formula 3 and Formula 2 titles while part of the Renault turned Alpine academy, but he did not have a series to go into this year, so he became test and reserve driver in the Formula 1 team.
The French side have been trying to get the 21-year-old a seat elsewhere on loan for 2023, but they naturally needed to hold off on that in case Fernando Alonso did not sign a new deal.
Further, the likes of Williams, where Piastri was initially expected to go, have not yet decided who they want in their car next season.
READ: Fernando Alonso reacts to conspiracy he worked with Oscar Piastri to cause chaos
Fernando Alonso wanted a contract with Alpine that went beyond the end of 2023, but he was denied this due to his age, so when a seat at Aston Martin opened up following the announcement of Sebastian Vettel’s retirement, the Spaniard made a deal with their billionaire owner, Lawrence Stroll.
This caught team principal Otmar Szafnauer by surprise, and he only saw the news in the Aston Martin press release, just like the rest of us.
One day later though, the problem was solved. Alpine announced that Piastri had been promoted to a race seat for next season, and it would be him and Esteban Ocon trying to break into the top three in 2023.
But, while he was being kept waiting by Alpine on his future, Piastri had gone and made arrangements of his own.
His manager, and former F1 driver, Mark Webber, has reportedly made a deal with McLaren to put the F2 champion in their car to replace Daniel Ricciardo.
As a result, Piastri took to Twitter, hours after Alpine’s announcement, to confirm that the news was “wrong,” and that he “will not be driving for Alpine” next term.
This was a firm shutdown of the team that has funded his career up to now, and Alpine believe that their driver has broken contract.
There was a conspiracy theory that Alonso’s manager, Flavio Briatore, had concocted a plan with Webber for the 41-year-old to wait until after the 31 July to announce his departure.
By then, Alpine’s option on Piastri would have expired, and both drivers would get to move elsewhere.
However, this has since been debunked by Szafnauer, who confirmed that the 31 July deadline to promote Piastri is “fictitious.”
Wolff cannot get into the contract situation because he does not understand the specific details of it, but what he does understand is loyalty.
The Austrian feels as though Piastri may live to regret turning his back on his parent team.
“I have bigger problems than enjoy to sit on the balcony like in ‘The Muppet Show’ to watch the show pan out in front of my eyes,” said Wolff..
“I think it’s important that junior programmes are being respected, I think some of the kids should be wary on Twitter what they said about multinational organisations.
READ: Lando Norris reveals why Oscar Piastri joining McLaren would make him ‘feel weird’
“But I have no insight into the contracts.
“I believe in karma, I believe in integrity, but I’m not here to judge because as I said, I don’t know the legal situation.”
The news that Ricciardo will be leaving McLaren at the end of this season all but confirms their intention to sign Piastri for 2023, while Pierre Gasly has recently been linked with the Alpine seat along with the 33-year-old, who left Enstone at the end of 2020.