Alpine chief Otmar Szafnauer has praise for Fernando Alonso as he notes to wait until summer break to understand more of his F1 future.
Having made his return with Alpine, Alonso had an eye on the regulation changes which would have given him the chance to fight at the front. So far, it hasn’t worked out straight off since the team is still behind Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes.
Even though Mercedes is finding it tough this year, but they have enough to edge themselves ahead of Alpine, who are facing competition from the likes of McLaren, Alfa Romeo in the current midfield battle for the 2022 F1 season.
Alonso, though, is enjoying it still. Despite not getting the results he wants, he has stated that it has been a solid year so far. The indication from his side has been to continue racing in F1 in the near future but his current contract runs out at the end of 2022.
It is not clear if talks between Alonso and Alpine have already started behind the scenes, but Szafnauer has stated to wait until the summer break to get more clarity. Amid this, the future of Oscar Piastri is being discussed strongly too, with links towards Williams.
“I wasn’t at the team last year, however, we did compete against Alonso,” said Szafnauer. “We’re often competing in the same space. So yeah, I think he has taken a step up, he’s still a formidable competitor. He does a very good job. And he gets the speed very, very quickly.
“These cars are new: we haven’t been to Canada in a while, and with a new car, and I’m very impressed at how quickly he… a few laps, and he’s there. He’s doing a great job for us. Regarding the future, it is something I haven’t thought about, that’s in the future. Let’s talk about that when we get closer to the break and that thing that I think you all call the silly season,” summed up the Alpine boss.
Here’s Fernando Alonso, Esteban Ocon on Canada race
Here’s news on Oscar Piastri from Alpine