Oscar Piastri’s rise to the Formula 1 grid depends in part on Fernando Alonso. Australian Piastri, who is leading the Formula 2 standings, has already been signed as Alpine’s reserve driver for 2022. “It comes with an awful lot of other things,” Budkowski said of the appointment. Those things will involve “quite a lot of track running as well”. “We’ll do a bespoke testing program for him in Formula 1 cars, to make sure he really, really ramps up. The complication for Alpine is that, with Esteban Ocon already signed until the end of 2024, Piastri’s step up to the grid appears to depend on 40-year-old F1 legend Alonso’s next move.

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