mwillems wrote: ↑04 Aug 2022, 13:43
Yes I think so as I explained in the text that came after the quote you posted, what I'm meaning to say is that at this point it is still rumour.
From my point of view I'd bite Piastri's hand off and put Dan into the recycle bin, but I don't want to get my hopes up until it is confirmed, but it certainly looks like there is something in the pipeline for Mclaren.
Heavy rumour doesn't make fact. Think Audi Mclaren.....
If Alpine have the contractual right on this one (which I am willing to bet they do). Webber and Oscar and Company will get sued in court for breach of contract and acting in bad faith and they will seek some serious monetary compensation. F1 is still a business and not a charity! They have a face-saving obligation to do so for their employees. Alpine invested a lot of funds in this kid over the years and it is not going to let Mclaren get a free ride and laugh all the way to the bank on Alpine's expense. We are not talking about a driver jumping to another team after he just signed with one as we have seen in the past. Even if they don't prevail, I would believe Webber and Oscar will be spending quite a lot of that signing bonus on legal fees and this could drag on for years - making the lawyers all that much richer.
If Alpine does not have any contractual rights on Oscar at this point, then the CEO - Rossi needs to step down - he is over his head and lacks any commonsense business acumen (despite his Harvard MBA) to run an F1 team and Renault should sell to Audi. This to me is a textbook example on how to cut the head off your competition, not only from a monetary/results point of view, but from a motivational point of view as well, JUST when things are starting to turn around for them and the team is fighting for 4th. I expect them now to finish 5th this year and maybe lower if Alonso decides to work on his tan on a lounge chair by the track with 9 races to go (I would not be surprised). In the end, if Alpine are the loser, the employees at Alpine will have lost all credibility in management - who will want to work for them???
A master stroke orchestrated by Webber, Oscar, Zac, Stroll and Alonso - when you struggle to beat them on the track find another way.... F1 is cut throat, but Alpine really don't deserve it IMO. Enstone and Renault have a lot of history in the sport. What a tough year for French-Australian relationships (from a submarines to F1)