F1: Alpine’s Piastri joins McLaren’s pool of reserve drivers

McLaren can now call upon the services of Alpine reserve driver Oscar Piastri if they require a stand-in for Daniel Ricciardo or Lando Norris, following the agreement of a new deal between the two teams.

The British team already have an arrangement with Mercedes, which allows them to borrow Stoffel Vandoorne or Nyck de Vries.

In the spirit of offering maximum racing opportunities to our stable of young talent, we have agreed that @McLarenF1 may call upon BWT Alpine F1 Team Reserve Driver @OscarPiastri in the event one of their drivers is unable to race. pic.twitter.com/etmryT1UrJ

— BWT Alpine F1 Team (@AlpineF1Team) March 12, 2022

The McLaren team has also made clear the deal with Piastri is not related to Daniel Ricciardo’s Covid situation.

“I’m confident he will be fit again next weekend,” Seidl said.

“He is feeling better already. But as we know, it simply takes a few days until you are fully back in good shape.

“Obviously in terms of reserve drivers, it is similar to previous years. We have an agreement with Mercedes to share reserve drivers. We have also Paul di Resta, similar to last year, on standby in case it is needed.

“But again, expect Daniel to be back in good shape next week.”

“It would be great if Oscar can get some races under his belt in F1 and get that very valuable experience,” Alpine F1 team boss Otmar Szafnauer said on F1 TV.

“We’ve talked to McLaren about Oscar being a reserve if they need him. He’s definitely our reserve first and foremost, so if there was a conflict, we would take him.

“But if Daniel can’t drive, then we’ll offer him up.

“I wish Daniel a speedy recovery, I would think six days from now, I don’t know when he contracted Covid, but in 7-10 days you get rid of it and you’re fine.”