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Alpine afraid of losing talent: 'Don't want to stand in their way'

Alpine afraid of losing talent: 'Don't want to stand in their way'

16-09-2021 08:08 Last update: 09:38
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GPblog.com

Alpine has the talent to choose from in their junior programme but does not have a place for them in Formula 1. This could mean that Oscar Piastri and Guanyu Zhou will soon leave for another team, and the investment of the French team was for nothing.

With the numbers one and two in the Formula 2 championship, you could argue that Alpine has got it right with their junior program. Piastri, in his first year in F2 after a title in his debut year in F3, is fighting for the title again and does so against Zhou. The Chinese driver is also part of Alpine's program.

Training of Alpine

The problem, however, is that Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon have already been committed by Alpine for some time, and the team does not have a customer team where it can stable juniors. Zhou seems to have a bag of money worth 30 million on him which could make him an interesting option for Alfa Romeo, but Piastri seems to be out of the running.

''We have had an academy for years and have developed several drivers. Now we have drivers who are successful at the highest level just before Formula 1, and that shows that our program is producing good talents. Unfortunately, if I may use that word, they 'mature' the moment we also have good drivers in the first team who perform well,'' said Marcin Budkowski according to Motorsportweek.com.

Opportunity for Piastri

''The success of the academy is also determined by the output. If no one ever gets into F1, then you have wasted time and money on those drivers. On the one hand, we want to develop the talents further at Alpine, but on the other hand, we don't have a seat available. We do not want to get in the way of the talents, but we also do not want to lose them completely from our program,'' concludes the Alpine team boss.

Where Zhou still seems to be eligible for the seat at Alfa Romeo, the man who seems to be on his way to the Formula 2 title is not in the picture at any team. Alfa Romeo is the last team that really has a seat left. For Piastri, an F2 title would be a curse, because with that title he would not be allowed to drive another year in that class and he will have to find an alternative.