zoroastar wrote: ↑30 Jul 2022, 03:50
you think Alpine will be doing horrible damage to their future team if they dont sign Piastri right away
I don't think that at all, Alpine are welcome to release Piastri to go join the Red Bull or Ferrari junior programs. I think it doesn't make sense for Alpine to keep Piastri as reserve driver for not just one but anywhere up to five seasons, assuming Alonso wants another two-year extension after this two-year extension.
If you have no intention of Piastri driving for Alpine until 2027 then let Piastri go off and drive for somebody else, and don't be cross when Piastri replaces Gasly and later Perez and does very well as a Red Bull driver!
Gasly going to a works Aston Martin team (since he is never going to be promoted back to Red Bull) and Piastri getting a full release to go drive for AlphaTauri would make a lot of sense for all parties, since it doesn't seem that Alpine want to put Piastri in their own car anytime soon.
zoroastar wrote: ↑30 Jul 2022, 03:50
also, when was the last time that a factory team in F1 had any real trouble finding a good driver when they needed one?
There's lot of examples of that:
Jaguar with Pizzonia, Webber and Klien
BMW-Williams with Pizzonia and Webber
BMW Sauber with Kubica (rookie)
McLaren-Mercedes with Hamilton (rookie), Kovalainen (nearly a rookie), Wurz (journeyman)
Toyota with Kobayashi (rookie), Glock, Da Matta, Panis, Salo -- no WDCs among them
Renault with Button (nearly a rookie), Alonso (nearly a rookie), Kovalainen (rookie), Piquet Jr (rookie), Petrov (rookie), Palmer (journeyman)
zoroastar wrote: ↑30 Jul 2022, 03:50
i want to see them doing something now, and putting anybody other than Alonso in that seat is just rolling dice.
Was Renault rolling the dice by putting inexperienced Alonso in instead of a veteran like Jean Alesi?
Likewise McLaren rolling the dice by replacing veteran Alonso with rookie Norris?
Obviously the idea is to build your own WDC, but if Alpine don't want Piastri to drive the car that's fine, they should release him to pursue other opportunities.