Piastri offers explanation into Alpine radio message

Oscar Piastri has explained the backstory to comments he made over team radio after being forced onto the grass by Franco Colapinto during the Austrian Grand Prix.

Running second in the race as he came up to lap the Alpine driver, Piastri was forced to take to the grass as the Argentinian battled with Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda.

Oscar Piastri reveals motive behind pointed Alpine radio remarks

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

It prompted a sarcastic remark over team radio from Piastri, who spent his junior career as part of the Alpine development programme before sensationally joining McLaren for the 2023 campaign.

Such was the nature of his departure that it created a degree of ill will, with the young Australian’s character drawn into question by the Enstone operation.

Though now ancient history, after being forced onto the grass in Austria, Piastri suggested that “Alpine still managed to find a way to f*ck me over all these years later.”

Speaking to the media, including PlanetF1.com, ahead of this weekend’s British Grand Prix, the Australian shed further light on his radio message.

“The comments on the radio, it was just the kind of coincidence that Qualifying was obviously an Alpine and then I kind of got impeded by both in the race to an extent,” he explained.

“So it was more just a coincidence.”

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Piastri started the Austrian GP third after being unable to start his final flying lap in qualifying at the Red Bull Ring.

As he wound up to do so, he rounded the last corner as yellow flags waved following a Pierre Gasly spin.

He then encountered the Frenchman in the race while lapping him, before the moment with Colapinto completed the trifecta.

But while ironic that, in all three instances, it was the team with which he has personal history, the 25-year-old insisted the sliding doors moment in August 2022 isn’t something on which he dwells.

“I’ve not really thought about it much,” he said of Alpine’s fortunes versus those of McLaren.

“Obviously, when I joined Formula 1, there were the comparisons in the directions that each team has taken.

“But now, honestly, I haven’t thought about it for over 12 months, probably.”

Piastri leads the Drivers’ Championship by 15 points over McLaren team-mate Lando Norris, who was victorious in Austria a week ago.

Combined, they’ve driven McLaren into a commanding position atop the Constructors’ Championship with 417 points, 207 points clear of second-best Ferrari.

Alpine, by contrast, sits at the foot of the teams’ standings, with 11 points.

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