Could Piastri have been a Mercedes driver if he had stayed at Alpine?

Oscar Piastri was initially a candidate to race for Alpine, but when the Enstone team officially announced him, a significant legal battle ensued between the team and the driver. Ultimately, Piastri became a McLaren driver. So, what if Alpine had won the legal fight?

After winning both Formula 3 and Formula 2 consecutively, Piastri emerged as one of the most talented young drivers in motorsport. Following his F2 victory, he had to wait a year, and Alpine hoped to sign him after Alonso moved to Aston Martin. However, Piastri had already agreed to join McLaren. McLaren won the contract dispute, and Piastri took Daniel Ricciardo’s seat for the 2023 season. Alpine, in turn, signed Red Bull’s young driver Pierre Gasly to form the Ocon-Gasly pairing.

Since then, the fortunes of the two teams have changed dramatically. Piastri has achieved two Grand Prix victories and nine podium finishes, while Alpine drivers Gasly and Ocon have only secured two podiums, leading to a significant points gap between the teams.

Additionally, Peter Windsor proposed an interesting perspective. He suggested that had Piastri remained at Alpine, he might have outperformed Esteban Ocon and had a chance to move to Mercedes.

Windsor emphasized Piastri’s talent, stating, “If Oscar had stayed at Alpine, he would overshadow Ocon and likely become a Mercedes driver when Lewis Hamilton left.”

“This doesn’t mean he would be better than McLaren, but he could have potentially been racing alongside George Russell at Mercedes, which would have been quite intriguing.”