Reigning F2 champion Piastri is at the cen❀tre of a contractual tug-of-war between his current Alpine team and McLaren, with the long-runn൩ing dispute set to finally be settled on Monday by F1’s CRB. 

Spe🎃aking on Saturday at the Belgian Grand Prix, Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer expressed confidence that the CRB will take his team’s side. 

“Whatꦗ we’re doing to retain him is going to the CRB on Monday,” Szafnauer explained. 

“We’ll have the ♎CRB decide which contract Oscar signed t♛akes precedent and once we have that ruling then we’ll look forward and see where we go.”

Asked how confident he is about the CRꦓB ruling in Alpine’s favour, Szafnauer replied: "Very. I’ve seen both sides of the argument and we’re confident that Oscar signed with us back in November. 

“There are certain things that need to b⛄e in the contract and I’m confident that they are in there.”

Responding to reports that Piastri’s contract with Alpine had a July 31 deadline, Szafnauer said: “Well I rarely like to talk about deta𝓰ils of driver contracts. 

“But two things I can say; one, there was no by the 31st of July you have to✱ do some൩ things or therefore you can get out, there was none of that. 

“That 31st of July deadline that I read all the time is fictitio𓃲us, it’s not in th𒁏e contract he signed. 

“The term of the contract is through 2024 with an option in 2023. There’s a lot more in it, but like I said, I don’t really like to talk about the specifics.🧜”

Alpine don’t feel let down by Alonso

The contractual dispute was triggered by Fernando Alonso’s bomb🧔shell switch to Aston Martin, which was announced on the Monday morning after the Hungarian Grand Prix. 

Alpine had been negotiating a new contract with Alonso and were hopeful he would sign an extension. But when Sebastian Vettel announced he will retire from F1 at the end of the year, Alonso negotiated a sw🃏ift deal with Aston Martin.

Asked if⛦ Alpine feel let down by Alonso, Szafnauer said: “No, not at all. He’s a free agent, there’s no obligation on Fernando’s part to do anyth𓃲ing else than to do what is right for himself. 

“A deal has to be good for both sid♛es and if he found a deal that was better forꦕ him, he should pursue it. 

“We had negotiations with him in good faith and we thought we were close to having a deal on both sides but no, he was a free agent and free to do what he did.”&n𒐪🌄bsp;