“He’s getting a lot of information, a lot of experience and expertise" - Oscar Piastri is being prepared for F1 entry, says Alpine director

Alpine F1 team CEO Laurent Rossi revealed that reserve driver Oscar Piastri is being prepared for his F1 role. The Frenchman believes the Australian has insightful inputs into the development of the current car and is involved extensively with the team.

Speaking to the Motorsport Network, Rossi described Piastri’s role and said:

“It’s going to be an extensive testing programme, a lot of test days, a lot of kilometres, a lot of simulators. Usually we don’t have the same drivers doing all of the test days or the simulator, only because it helps having different points of view. But we feel that Oscar [Piastri] can probably bring more than less seasoned drivers on the simulator, first of all. And will get more out of an extensive programme on track and off track in the simulator.”

According to the Alpine chief, the Australian race driver is being prepared for his F1 entry with an extensive test which includes a lot of simulator work and off-track testing. As a reserve driver, he has been interacting more often with Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso to analyze data and learn how to approach different circuits.

Highlighting the intensity of Oscar Piastri's reserve driver role, Rossi added, saying:

“Plus, we are including him a bit more in depth than other drivers in the briefing room of the data analysis. He’s also looking at other cars and their driving lines and providing potential feedback on the way the cars behave, or even the drivers, how they take some turns and stuff like that.”

Describing the F2 champion’s execution of the reserve role, Rossi said:

“Oscar has better input, better feedback, because you can rely on it. It’s not like someone is saying something, and you’re like, ‘yeah right, what do you know? So he’s getting a lot of information, a lot of experience and expertise. It’s much more intense than a rookie or reserve driver programme will [usually] get. Even compared to last year, my reserve driver was not necessarily involved in all those briefings or debriefs. Clearly not doing all of the tests. Clearly not going on the simulator so much. And that’s normal. Oscar is doing it all.”

The Frenchman claimed Oscar Piastri is getting a lot of experience in developing the car and has insightful feedback. The Alpine boss revealed the previous reserve drivers did not have much work, but their newly tailored preparation program for the 21-year-old has him involved with the team extensively. The Melbourne-born racer is also a substitute for former Renault customer team McLaren in case any of their drivers are unable to drive in the 2022 season.

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Alpine were unable to offer Oscar Piastri an F1 outing in Australia due to lack of parts

With new car and development work at hand, Alpine chief Laurent Rossi revealed that every practice session is important for their current drivers. While the idea of offering Oscar Piastri an F1 outing in a practice session was tempting, he believes the lack of spare parts available made it impossible. Despite the rookie’s exceptional talent, a crash or chassis damage could have hurt them like in the case of Haas with Mick Schumacher’s crash.

On being asked about offering Oscar Piastri an FP1 outing in his homeland, Rossi said:

“We loved the idea, I loved the idea. It would have been a great story. But to be honest those cars are brand new. They are still rather fragile for all teams. The drivers are still learning and we are still learning, so any FP, even FP1, is important. The track is new as well. So it was a perfect storm. And we don’t have a lot of spare parts…There were too many parameters going against it. So, sadly, we decided it will be later in the season. We have a couple of grands prix that are earmarked as possible.”

Preferably the best possible free practice sessions are at circuits where the rookie is familiar with the track and has prior experience. Alpine will be considering giving him an F1 outing later in the season in a less pressured race weekend. The Australian’s impressive resume includes winning three titles in a row in three years. Oscar Piastri has claimed a title each in Formula Renault Eurocup, Formula 3, and Formula 2 consecutively, which is a rarity in the talent pool that surges up to F1.