The year was 2022 and as the summer break began all hell broke loose in the Formula One driver market. Having failed to secure a contract extension from his Alpine team, Fernando Alonso fired the starting gun by announcing he was leaving to join Aston Martin.
The Spaniard was to replace Sebastian Vettel who had indicated his retirement in the run up to the Hungarian Grand Prix late in July. Alpine’s response was swift as they revealed on social media that Alonso’s replacement would be their junior driver Oscar Piastri.
Yet just ninety minutes later, Piastri responded with shocking effect and maximum embarrassment to the chiefs in Enstone. “This is wrong and I have not signed a contract with Alpine for 2023. I will not be driving for Alpine next year.”
McLaren ‘steal’ Alpine junior Piastri
Clearly the junior had another option in his pocket, given regardless of however poor the F1 team any driver jumps at the chance to gain a seat on the grid and it was soon to become evident he had agreed a deal to replace Daniel Ricciardo at McLaren the following season.
Law suits were threatened and Piastri asked to replay the costs Alpine had spent on developing him as a driver. Yet the matter was quickly resolved in the FIA’s court of contract arbitration and to Alpine’s embarrassment their legal department had failed to secure the services of the young Australian. Heads did roll.
This weekend Alpine announced they would be extending the contract of Pierre Gasly but question marks remain over who will be his team mate. The team started the year with rookie Jack Doohan with a six race deal before he was replaced by last year’s rising star rookie, Franco Colapinto. Yet the Argentinian has failed to impress and to date his results are marginally worse than his predecessor.
Long term contracts for Norris and Piastri
Meanwhile McLaren with Piastri in his third season have the best driver lineup on the grid. The pair will remain together in the papaya liveried cars for a considerable time which leaves the teams management a headache. What do they do with their junior driver Alex Dunne?
Dunne made his second McLaren FP1 appearance of the season in Monza, as Oscar Piastri made way for man from Northern Ireland. He clocked the sixteenth quickest time in the session and was around half a second slower than Lando Norris in the sister car.
Alex Dunne has impressed across his F2 campaign, turning heads with consistent pace even if the title looks out of reach. His FP1 mileage at Monza follows an eye-catching debut earlier in the summer at the Red Bull Ring, which prompted pundits to push McLaren to loan him out for 2026.
Rosberg analysis Hamilton crisis
McLaren to ask Alpine for help?
Alpine are currently under pressure from Franco Colapinto’s patchy results, and according to some are a logical destination for Dunne. Rebecca Clancy noted on the Inside the Piranha Club podcast: “For this weekend, we are seeing, I have to bring him up, the fellow Irishman Alex Dunne is jumping in the car for FP1 for Piastri. So, he’s sitting out that session that normally you would think would be a negative for a driver, but we obviously saw this happen for Norris in Austria, and he went on to win the race, and he loved it.”
Her co-host Ben Hunt added: “Yeah. I mean, all eyes will be on Dunne and seeing how well he does because he obviously impressed in Austria. You know there’s no space for him currently on the grid, but we do know things can change around. You know Alpine could be an option, couldn’t it?”
Clancy continued: “Well, it’s interesting, isn’t it? Because Monza marks the one-year anniversary of Franco Colapinto’s debut. He is obviously under a lot of pressure at the moment. And Alex Dunne is a McLaren driver who’s part of that program. They don’t have any seats, though, let’s be honest. It doesn’t look like Norris is going anywhere. It doesn’t look like Piastri is going anywhere. So Alex Dunne isn’t going to get the look in that he should. And so he would be looking for a seat on the grid. It’s not going to be with McLaren.”
Dunne targeting F1 in 2026
Hunt concluded: “If he impresses, then that gives McLaren a little bit of a headache, but he would be quite a good fit if he does for Alpine.” BBC journalist Andrew Benson echoed the sentiment on the Chequered Flag podcast: “Dunne, he’s looking really impressive. He’s doing really well in F2 this season, and they’re looking for a place for him on the F1 grid next year. It’s not going to be easy to find, because there aren’t a lot of spots open, but he appears to have a bright future so far.”
Ah, the sweet theatre of Formula 1 politics. Alpine, still nursing the scars of That Summer of 2022 when Oscar Piastri ghosted them harder than a bad Tinder date, may now find themselves helping McLaren solve a different driver headache. For Alpine, meanwhile, it feels almost poetic. Here comes a bright-eyed teenager ready to save their bacon, handed on a platter from bitter rivals McLaren.
Alex Dunne was running a promising sixth in the F2 feature race on Sunday, before being taken out by a rival down into the first chicane. This has left him in fifth place in the title race, some 50 points behind leader Leonardo Fornaroli with three rounds remaining of the season.
Verstappen over rules engineers for Monza qualifying
It’s Monza weekend and the last race for the Formula One European season is upon us. Ferrari work all year to ensure they have a competitive car for their home race in Italy, but it seems other teams too have stepped it up for the Italian Grand Prix.
Just 0.4 seconds covered the top ten in final qualifying and for Kimi Antonelli to be less than 50 milliseconds from his team mate it was a much better day than he has seen for quite some time. Yet it was Max Verstappen and Red Bull who were the stars of qualifying, whilst the margins were thin it was he who built steady progression into the sessions claiming the fastest lap of all time in an F1 car.
Red Bull brought a new floor for the weekend in Monza, which certainly hasn’t hurt the pace of the RB21, although Max believes crediting this upgrade with the turnaround is too simple an explanation. Verstappen began the weekend half a second off the pace then in second practice he narrowed the gap to just under two tenths. Come final practice he was now just 0.15s away from the top of the time sheets and a stunning final lap in qualifying saw him pip Norris to pole by just 77 milliseconds…. READ MORE
A.J. Hunt is Senior Editor at TJ13, where Andrew oversees editorial standards and contributes to the site’s Formula 1 coverage. A career journalist with experience in both print and digital sports media, Andrew trained in investigative journalism and has written for a range of European sports outlets.
At TJ13, Andrew plays a central role in shaping the site’s output, working across breaking news, analysis, and long-form features. Andrew’s responsibilities include fact-checking, refining editorial structure, and ensuring consistency in reporting across a fast-moving news cycle.
Andrew’s work focuses particularly on the intersection of Formula 1 politics, regulation, and team strategy. Andrew closely follows developments involving the FIA, team leadership, and driver market dynamics, helping to provide context behind the sport’s biggest stories.
With experience covering multiple seasons of Formula 1’s modern hybrid era, Andrew has developed a detailed understanding of how regulatory changes and competitive shifts influence the grid. Andrew’s editorial approach prioritises clarity and context, aiming to help readers navigate complex developments within the sport.
In addition to editorial duties, Andrew is particularly interested in how media narratives shape fan perception of Formula 1, and how reporting can balance speed with accuracy in an increasingly digital news environment.
