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Inside the moment that shocked the F1 world: Alpine boss brutally shoots Oscar Piastri after Australian’s ‘lack of loyalty’ over explosive McLaren switch
- F1 boss brutally shoots Australian Oscar Piastri
- Piastri surprised alpine chief Otmar Szafnauer
- Szafnauer criticized Piastri for his lack of loyalty
Young Australian driver Oscar Piastri left the Formula 1 world in shock last year when he revealed mid-season that he would be leaving the Alpine Academy to join McLaren as a full-time driver in 2023.
Formula 2 and Formula 3 world champion for the past two seasons, the 21-year-old is highly regarded in the paddock, and Alpine team boss Otmar Szafnauer was furious at his protégé’s ‘betrayal’.
The embarrassing and bitter public feud that followed was featured in the fifth season of Netflix’s hugely popular Drive to Survive.
Cameras showed Piastri working out at Alpine’s world-class facility, while the team boss spoke about how valuable the Australian was to his team.
‘Alpine is a good team to drive because we are doing all the right things and putting in the necessary tools to win. I’m excited to have an Oscar for 2023,’ he says.
Young Australian driver Oscar Piastri left the Formula 1 world in shock last year when he revealed mid-season that he would be leaving the Alpine Academy to join McLaren as a full-time driver in 2023.
Alpine team boss Otmar Szafnauer was furious at his protégé’s ‘betrayal’
Soon after, Piastri signed with McLaren and word reached the Szafnauer home.
‘Oscar’s signing by McLaren was a huge shock. It was hard for me to understand the lack of loyalty, I expected him to have a little more integrity than that,” he says.
The team boss fired another shot at Piastri after the Dutch GP when Ricciardo, whom Piasti will replace next season, finished 17th.
Microphones capture Szafnauer joking “Good luck Oscar” as the alpine race engineers break into laughter around him.
The documentary then reveals a meeting between McLaren boss Zak Brown and Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi, where Brown offers to trade Daniel Ricciardo for Piastri.
Brown said he thought Szafnauer had been “caught with his pants down.”
Microphones capture Szafnauer joking “Good luck Oscar” as the alpine race engineers break into laughter around him.
Piastri, now one of the most exciting prospects in all of the sport, believes he can surpass teammate Lando Norris in his debut season.
Alpine later regrouped to sign AlphaTauri driver Pierre Gasly, forming an all-French line-up for the upcoming season.
Piastri, now one of the most exciting prospects in all of the sport, believes he can surpass teammate Lando Norris in his debut season.
“I think so,” he told ABC when asked if he thought he could finish ahead of his teammate.
“I think everyone has to have the confidence in themselves that they can win, or if they’re not in a position to win, they have to do the best they can with what they have.”